It’s a bullpen day for the Blue Jays.

They’ll be sending Trevor Richards off to the mound to kick off the days’ action on Saturday afternoon, but there’s no word yet on who could slide in behind him. The most likely names are Bowden Francis and Mitch White as the righty’s have the most length in their arms.

Today’s game marks the second bullpen day for the Jays this season weeks after sending Alek Manoah down to Dunedin to find his game. Richards got the nod as the opener in the first start Manoah missed and looked tremendous.

He went three innings against the Minnesota Twins allowing one hit, issuing a single walk and fanning seven of the 11 batters he faced. He allowed the Jays to take a 2-0 lead after three, and after Tim Mayza got a nod for 1.1 IP in the fourth and into the fifth, Bowden Francis came in for 2.2 IP of his own.

But when the Jays looked to Adam Cimber in the top of the eighth carrying a 3-1 lead, he faced seven batters and absolutely imploded. He secured just one out, but allowed five hits, two home runs for six earned runs as the Twins racked up seven runnings in the inning.

Today, the Jays will hope for a better fate out of it all, but run into a Rangers lineup that has absolutely dominated right-handed batters at home this season. The Rangers’ lineup has a combined .870 OPS and 140 WRC+ against right-handed batters at home, so the Jays will have their work cut out for them this afternoon.

First pitch: 4:05 p.m. EST

Toronto Blue Jays: 39-32, 11.0 GB, 0.5 WCGB, +21 DIFF.

Texas Rangers: 42-27, – GB, – WCGB, +142 DIFF.

Moneyline: TOR -102; TEX -114.

TOR: Trevor Richards RHP — 0-0, 1 GS, 30.0 IP. 3.30 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.167 WHIP, 14.7 K/9, 0.4 bWAR.

TEX: Dane Dunning RHP — 5-1, 7 GS, 58.2 IP. 2.76 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 1.1930 WHIP, 5.5 K/9, 1.1 bWAR.

Tune into the latest edition of Blue Jays Nation Radio as the crew talks about the Jays’ latest series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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