Things have been bad. Very bad. But hey, a really good weekend against the American League East leading Baltimore Orioles and everything suddenly changes. Francisco Liriano will get the ball, looking to redeem himself and his 135 earned run average after his terrible first start in Tampa Bay last Friday.

Hey, well, here’s something that’s good, I guess. The Red Sox pitching has been abysmal so far this season, and as a result, they haven’t ran away with the AL East in the first week-and-a-half of the season like many expected. When things are going bad for your team, it’s nice to see somebody else struggling, too.

Here’s an interesting Josh Donaldson quote on what he believes is ailing the Blue Jays hitters right now. He thinks the haven’t struck the right balance between being aggressive when they need to be, and passive when the opportunity isn’t there. I mean, yeah, that seems to be the case. They currently rank dead last in the majors in every major offensive category other than on-base percentage, in which they rank 29th.

And now, the lineups…

Francisco Liriano: 163 IP, 4.69 ERA, 8.7 H9, 1.4 HR9, 4.7 BB9, 9.3 SO9

Kevin Gausman: 179 2/3 IP, 3.61 ERA, 9.2 H9, 1.4 HR9, 2.4 BB9, 8.7 SO9

Zeke Carrera has been slotted into the top of the lineup, and at this point, why the hell not, right? This team needs any kind of possible spark, and maybe Zeke can channel some of his playoff legend swagger and make it happen. Devon Travis, who had spent the season in the leadoff spot otherwise, is mired in a 0-for-23 slump. Last season, the team put Jose Bautista up there and seemed to make things better. Whether that was the actual reason or not, who knows, but that could be something we’re looking at right away if Carrera doesn’t pan out up there.