TUESDAY FIRST 5 INNINGS PLAY (YTD 8-11)

[jimmythegreek]

Baltimore/Toronto over 5.5 even:
The Orioles (37-38) come into action this evening taking 2 of 3 from Tampa Bay over the weekend. Beginning tonight they move on to Toronto (36-39) who saw Kansas City take 2 of 3 from the Jays at Kaufman Stadium. Despite the sub .500 records for both of these teams holding down the 4th and 5th place in the competitive AL East respectively, both remain in the hunt as you have 5 teams separated by just 5.5 games as we approach the ASB. These teams begin a 3 game series from The Rogers Center in Toronto.

The Blue Jays send Joe Biagini (2-6 4.45) to the hill this evening. The 27 year old second year righty has gotten hit pretty hard heading into his 10th start of the season, and over his last 3 outings has an ERA of 8.54 losing 2 of his last 3 decisions. He did beat Texas though in a 7-5 decision despite giving up 4 ER on 7 hits in 5 2/3 IP walking one and striking out 5. Biagini faces an Orioles lineup who is starting to find some identity on offense scoring better than 6 runs over 4 straight contests. Baltimore is hitting .257 collectively averaging about 4.6 runs per contest. They also have some balance and pop in their lineup as their 109 HR ranks 5th in the AL. Jonathan Schoop (.295 15 48) is well on pace to surpass his 2016 career highs as he’s hit safely in 6 of his last 7 games hitting .391 over that span including 4 multi-hit contests. Trey Mancini (.321 14 43) leads the club in batting and brings a 6 game hitting streak (.455) into tonight’s series opener. The 25 year old second -year outfielder falls just short to qualify for leaders among hitting status, but should get enough at bats to qualify by season’s end if he stays hot. Adam Jones (.270 13 34) just saw a 7 game hitting streak end, but seems to be putting things together at the plate batting .333 over that span. Mark Trumbo (.255 10 36) has cooled off considerably hitting just .179 over his last 7 games. Manny Machado (.228 15 38) has put together 4 multi-hit games over the last week along with 2 HR and 6 RBI. He seems to appear a lot more patient than during his struggles and is now tied for the club lead in HR. Chris Davis (.226 14 26) has been on the DL for 2 weeks with an oblique injury and won’t likely return until after the ASB.

Baltimore counters with Kevin Gausman (3-7 6.47) who hasn’t won in nearly a month and has dropped his last 3 decisions overall with an ERA slightly north of 9. He lost against Cleveland 5-1 last time out surrendering 3 ER on 6 H in 5 2/3 IP walking 2 and striking out 9. Gausman has since been a highly publicized prospect with potential during his 5 year stint with the O’s, however hopes for a successful career have gotten off to a rocky start. He faces a Blue Jays lineup batting just .248 thus far averaging about 4.3 runs per contest, and despite power throughout the lineup as evident by their 101 HR, injuries and inefficiency has left the Jays underachieving though inching closer to break even despite a 2-12 start. Justin Smoak (.304 20 48) is clearly on one of the biggest tears of his career sporting a 10 game hitting streak (.371) and clearly on pace to easily exceed his career highs from 2013. Kevin Pillar (.260 9 19) is hitting .500 over his last 5 games including 3 multi-hit contests leading the Jays with 11 steals. Kendrys Morales (.262 15 44) has been a key addition to John Gibbons’ staff putting up numbers comparable to the last 2 seasons in KC as well as years’ past with Anaheim. Jose Bautista (.234 13 35) has hit safely over his last 4 games (.444) after a floundering start and will be key to Toronto’s second half surge with efforts of getting back into the AL East race. Josh Donaldson (.280 8 20) is back in full swing from an injury where he missed significant time but is going through a bit of a power failure homerless since June 11th despite at least one hit in 6 of his last 7 games.

We get a nice price this evening at a venue where the retractable roof of the once called ‘Skydome’ keeps the ball jumping off the bat especially to straight away center and the left and right field corners. At only 328 down the lines and a mere 400 to center, batters have feasted on fast balls for breakfast with attempts of hitting the stadium hotel and flirting with a similar type warp around semi-similar to Boston’s pesky pole. Gausman is extremely vulnerable right now and needs to be careful not to get himself into trouble against a flurry of Blue Jays power hitters. The same could be said for Biagini as the O’s seem to be peaking at the right time with consistency and balance in their lineup. With both teams looking to make a move over the next week or so, we hope to finally notch one on the left side losing 5 of our last 6. Best of luck however you play!