Coming off a tough series split in Tampa, the聽Blue Jays聽move on to Kansas City for their final road series of the regular season in a battle between two teams that got shut out on Thursday.
After six straight wins gave them a reasonable cushion in the American League East, the Jays dropped their final two games against the Rays, scoring only one run and managing just eight hits combined.
The good news is that the last time the Jays played a series in Tampa, back in May, they looked even worse 鈥 scoring just two runs in three games and being hammered 13-0 in the series finale 鈥 and they rebounded by winning 13 of their next 16 games.
Series preview
The Jays were rolling until that two-game speed bump at Steinbrenner Field, and now as they try to get back on track they’ll play a Royals team that has fallen out of the playoff race over the last two weeks.
Magic number remains at three with Cleveland winning its seventh straight while 海角社区官网lost to Tampa Bay.
Magic number remains at three with Cleveland winning its seventh straight while 海角社区官网lost to Tampa Bay.
Kansas City had closed to within one game of the final wild-card spot in the American League on Sept. 6, but the Royals have gone 3-7 since then to fall under the .500 mark and will go into Friday’s series opener sitting seven games behind the Boston Red Sox, who hold that last spot, with only nine games to play.
The Royals have the major-league leader in saves, Carlos Est茅vez, who is in his first year with the team after signing a two-year, $22-million (U.S.) contract in the off-season. He has six blown saves, but has successfully converted his last 15 opportunities. The right-hander gave up a run in securing his 40th save of the season on Wednesday, the first time he’d allowed an opponent to score in over a month.
Long-time Jays killer Salvador Perez, the Royals’ catcher, is on a run right now, with seven hits in his last 19 at-bats (. 368) including four of his 30 homers this season.
In the opener, Max Scherzer will try to build on his last outing, in which he retired the last nine batters he faced and threw five innings for the first time in three starts. He’ll face right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who has made 24 starts this season but came out of the bullpen to pitch a perfect inning of relief on Wednesday. Friday’s game was originally scheduled to be broadcast exclusively on Apple TV+, but the streaming service made a deal with Sportsnet to simulcast the contest.
Trey Yesavage will get his second big-league start in Sunday’s series finale, coming off an outing in Tampa in which he left jaws dropped, setting a Blue Jays’ franchise record with nine strikeouts in a major-league debut and allowing only one run on three hits over five-plus innings.
Game time, TV, probable pitchers
Fri. Sept. 19, 7:40 p.m. on Sportsnet/Apple TV+:聽RHP Max Scherzer (5-3, 4.31) vs. RHP Michael Lorenzen (5-11, 4.91)
Sat. Sept. 20, 7:10 p.m. on Sportsnet:聽RHP Shane Bieber (3-1, 3.72) vs. LHP Noah Cameron (8-7, 2.98)
Sun. Sept. 21, 2:10 p.m. on Sportsnet:聽RHP Trey Yesavage (0-0, 1.80) vs. RHP Michael Wacha (9-12, 3.79)
Looking ahead
Following this series, the Jays will return home for the final week of the regular season to play three games each against the Red Sox and Rays. After that, they will more than likely be staying home to prepare for their first playoff opponent.
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