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The road trip continues as the Guardians, winners of five straight and now in sole possession of first place, take on the Toronto Blue Jays, who are 60-50 and in second place in the East. The Jays are 10 games behind the Yankees so they are going for a wild card spot and are currently in first place for one of the three spots.
By the way, the Orioles are in fourth place in the wild card and just one-half game out of a playoff spot. If the Mariners falter it’s possible that four A.L. East teams could end up in the playoffs.
The Jays are very tough at home with a 34-21 record. They are 26-29 on the road. They have lost 4 of their last 5. George Springer (.251/.795 with 18 HR’s) is out.
The Jays average 4.73 runs per game at home with a .270/.790 hitting line. They are hitting .267/.770 against right-handed pitching. They are 5th in the majors in runs per game, 6th in home runs per game, tied for first in batting average, and 4th in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. They are one of the top offensive teams in baseball and will present a huge challenge to the Guardians’ staff, which is missing James Karinchak. These are not the Detroit Tigers.
Their catcher, Alejandro Kirk, age 23, is hitting .305/.849 with a WAR of 3.6 (Vlad Guerrero is at 3.7). Vlad is hitting .287/.863, Gurriel .309/.782, Bichette .304/.739, and Matt Chapman .242/.796. Even without Springer this lineup has a lot of thump.
In terms of park factors, the Rogers Centre ranks 6th in home run rate and 9th in runs scored.
The Guardians have a couple of things going for them. One, they’re hot at the moment while the Jays have lost 4 of 5. Two, the G’s have their three top starters going. Quantrill, Bieber, and McKenzie all pitched 6-7 inning shutouts in their last appearances and seem to be locked in.
The Jays ace, Alek Manoah (12-5, 2.56) pitched Wednesday and will miss this series. Also, the Jays have three right-handers going. The G’s hit right-handers much better than lefties.
The Guardians start Cal Quantrill tonight. Cal is coming off six shutout innings against Houston. Current Jays players are 6-for-38 against him. However, Quantrill has a 4.96 ERA on the road this year, much worse than at home. But he's Canadian and grew up an hour outside of Toronto, so maybe he'll pitch like its a home game, eh?
The Jays are starting Jose Berrios (8-4, 5.19). Berrios must be getting a lot of run support with that record and ERA. He started in Cleveland on May 5 and got touched up for 6 runs in 4.2 innings. Berrios, like Quantrill, pitches much better at home (3.23 ERA) than on the road (7.50).
Lefties are hitting .280/.852 against Berrios. He was solid in July with a 3.00 ERA in six starts, but the Twins beat him up in his last start with 5 runs in just 3.2 innings.
We could see some runs from both teams tonight. We definitely won’t see just two home runs in three games like in Detroit.
If the Guardians do not win their division it's likely the Jays will be one of the teams they will be competing with for a wild card spot so these games could be important. The Guardians won 3 of 4 in Cleveland in May so they just need one win to clinch the series. That could be important if it goes to a tiebreaker. The Jays are 60-50 while the Guardians are 59-52.
However, the Jays play in the loaded A.L. East. After this series they have 13 games against the Orioles (who are 12-6 since the break), 9 against Tampa Bay, and 8 against the Yankees. Hopefully the Jays, Orioles, and Rays beat up on each other and also lose to the Yankees, driving all their W-L records down while we clean up on the Tigers and Royals. Or we could just win the division - that works for me.
Since the break the Guardians are 13-8, the Twins 7-9, and the White Sox 10-10. The Sox just lost Tim Anderson for 4-6 weeks and have lost 4 of their last 6 to Texas and KC.
After this series the Guardians will have played 51 home games and 63 away games. The Twins have played 56 games at home and 54 on the road. They have a losing record on the road.
By the way, the Orioles are in fourth place in the wild card and just one-half game out of a playoff spot. If the Mariners falter it’s possible that four A.L. East teams could end up in the playoffs.
The Jays are very tough at home with a 34-21 record. They are 26-29 on the road. They have lost 4 of their last 5. George Springer (.251/.795 with 18 HR’s) is out.
The Jays average 4.73 runs per game at home with a .270/.790 hitting line. They are hitting .267/.770 against right-handed pitching. They are 5th in the majors in runs per game, 6th in home runs per game, tied for first in batting average, and 4th in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. They are one of the top offensive teams in baseball and will present a huge challenge to the Guardians’ staff, which is missing James Karinchak. These are not the Detroit Tigers.
Their catcher, Alejandro Kirk, age 23, is hitting .305/.849 with a WAR of 3.6 (Vlad Guerrero is at 3.7). Vlad is hitting .287/.863, Gurriel .309/.782, Bichette .304/.739, and Matt Chapman .242/.796. Even without Springer this lineup has a lot of thump.
In terms of park factors, the Rogers Centre ranks 6th in home run rate and 9th in runs scored.
The Guardians have a couple of things going for them. One, they’re hot at the moment while the Jays have lost 4 of 5. Two, the G’s have their three top starters going. Quantrill, Bieber, and McKenzie all pitched 6-7 inning shutouts in their last appearances and seem to be locked in.
The Jays ace, Alek Manoah (12-5, 2.56) pitched Wednesday and will miss this series. Also, the Jays have three right-handers going. The G’s hit right-handers much better than lefties.
The Guardians start Cal Quantrill tonight. Cal is coming off six shutout innings against Houston. Current Jays players are 6-for-38 against him. However, Quantrill has a 4.96 ERA on the road this year, much worse than at home. But he's Canadian and grew up an hour outside of Toronto, so maybe he'll pitch like its a home game, eh?
The Jays are starting Jose Berrios (8-4, 5.19). Berrios must be getting a lot of run support with that record and ERA. He started in Cleveland on May 5 and got touched up for 6 runs in 4.2 innings. Berrios, like Quantrill, pitches much better at home (3.23 ERA) than on the road (7.50).
Lefties are hitting .280/.852 against Berrios. He was solid in July with a 3.00 ERA in six starts, but the Twins beat him up in his last start with 5 runs in just 3.2 innings.
We could see some runs from both teams tonight. We definitely won’t see just two home runs in three games like in Detroit.
If the Guardians do not win their division it's likely the Jays will be one of the teams they will be competing with for a wild card spot so these games could be important. The Guardians won 3 of 4 in Cleveland in May so they just need one win to clinch the series. That could be important if it goes to a tiebreaker. The Jays are 60-50 while the Guardians are 59-52.
However, the Jays play in the loaded A.L. East. After this series they have 13 games against the Orioles (who are 12-6 since the break), 9 against Tampa Bay, and 8 against the Yankees. Hopefully the Jays, Orioles, and Rays beat up on each other and also lose to the Yankees, driving all their W-L records down while we clean up on the Tigers and Royals. Or we could just win the division - that works for me.
Since the break the Guardians are 13-8, the Twins 7-9, and the White Sox 10-10. The Sox just lost Tim Anderson for 4-6 weeks and have lost 4 of their last 6 to Texas and KC.
After this series the Guardians will have played 51 home games and 63 away games. The Twins have played 56 games at home and 54 on the road. They have a losing record on the road.
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