Posted in

Blue Jays look to avoid series loss against Braves

by sports••0
Blue Jays look to avoid series loss against Braves

The Toronto Blue Jays’ trend of two steps forward, one step backwards continued in the series opener against the Atlanta Braves.
On Tuesday, the Blue Jays went 0-6 with runners and scoring position, ultimately falling 4-3 to extend their losing streak to three. As a whole, they’ve been playing better over the last two and a half months, but they can’t seem to get any traction like they did last season when they had their 13-3 stretch.
Instead, the Blue Jays have been playing slightly above .500 baseball since April 19th, posting a 22-19 record. They worked their way back to .500 with a comeback victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, which capped of an 8-2 run, but blew a game in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday. They haven’t won since.

Well, they’ll look to try to end that losing streak on Wednesday evening, as the play the second of three against the Braves. Over their last 13 series, the Blue Jays lost just two, both to the Tampa Bay Rays. They’ll be in tough tonight against the team with the best record in baseball.

Starting for the Braves is Grant Holmes. This season, the 30-year-old right-handed pitcher has a 3.95 ERA and 5.06 FIP in 56 innings pitched. Holmes has a 21.7K%, but also has had some command issues this season, posting a 10.2 BB%. Moreover, Holmes is susceptible to the long-ball, giving up 11 home runs in his 11 starts.

On the other side, Patrick Corbin starts for the Blue Jays. The veteran lefty has a 3.65 ERA and 4.04 FIP over 49.1 innings of work. Corbin has an even lower strikeout rate than Holmes (17.1%), but he’s done a good job limiting hard contact.

Corbin has also had good back-to-back outings, outdueling Paul Skenes on May 23rd, firing six one-run innings with a season-high seven strikeouts. His last time out, Corbin struck out four over five innings of one-run ball. The Jays will need him to pitch like this on Wednesday evening.
Their offence has been sputtering as of late, and the lineup looks a bit different this time around. George Springer is out of the lineup, meaning Nathan Lukes leads off. They’ll double up lefties at the top of the lineup, as Yohendrick Piñango bats second.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. bats third, while Jesús Sánchez returns to the lineup after only pinch hitting in the series opener. Good to see him back in the lineup. Ernie Clement has been hot as of late, and he bats fifth, followed by Daulton Varsho.

Kazuma Okamoto hit his team-leading 13th home run of the season on Tuesday, and he’ll bat seventh. He’s followed by Andrés Giménez and Brandon Valenzuela.

Let’s set up Wednesday evening’s game against the Braves!

Location: Atlanta

First Pitch: 7:15 PM ET

Watch/Listen: Sportsnet One, SN590

Starting Pitchers

Toronto Blue Jays – Patrick Corbin: 2-1 record, 3.65 ERA, 49.1 IP, 36 SO, 14 BB

Atlanta Braves – Grant Holmes: 3-2 record, 3.95 ERA, 57 IP, 53 SO, 25 BB

Lineups:

Blue Jays:

  1. Nathan Lukes – LF
  2. Yohendrick Piñango – RF
  3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 1B
  4. Jesús Sánchez – DH
  5. Ernie Clement – 2B
  6. Daulton Varsho – CF
  7. Kazuma Okamoto – 3B
  8. Andrés Giménez – SS
  9. Brandon Valenzuela – C

Braves:

  1. Ronald Acuña Jr. – DH
  2. Michael Harris II – CF
  3. Matt Olson – 1B
  4. Ozzie Albies – 2B
  5. Mauricio Dubón – LF
  6. Austin Riley – 3B
  7. Eli White – RF
  8. Ha-Seong Kim – SS
  9. Chadwick Tromp – C

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *