GDT: STROS @ JAYS Game 2 of 4 7:07 EST.

[Spanky99]

Blue Jays Line-Up

 

1. Jose Bautista ® RF

2. Josh Donaldson ® 3B

3. Justin Smoak (S) 1B

4. Kendrys Morales (S) DH

5. Steve Pearce ® LF

6. Troy Tulowitzki ® SS

7. Miguel Montero (L) C

8. Kevin Pillar ® CF

9. Ryan Goins (L) 2B

 

SP Aaron Sanchez RHP

 

Sanchez will return from the DL for his start. He has been limited to five outings this year because of a blister on his right middle finger that wouldn't go away. He's expected to be limited to 90 pitches for this start.

 

Astros Line-up

 

1. George Springer ® CF

2. Jose Altuve ® 2B

3. Josh Reddick (L) RF

4. Carlos Correa ® SS

5. Marwin Gonzalez (S) 1B

6. Carlos Beltran (S) DH

7. Evan Gattis ® C

8. Alex Bregman ® 3B

9. Norichika Aoki (L) LF

 

Charlie Morton RHP

 

Morton will be activated after spending six weeks on the disabled list with a strained right lat muscle. This will be his first start since May 24, when he threw seven strong innings against Detroit. He made three rehab starts.

 

By Keegan Matheson / MLB.com | 12:24 PM ET + 10 COMMENTS

 

Aaron Sanchez will be activated from the disabled list for Friday's start against Charlie Morton and the American League-best Astros as the Blue Jays look to have a strong final weekend before the All-Star break.

 

Sanchez has hit the DL three times this season, all for blister or fingernail issues on his right middle finger. The 2016 AL ERA leader has been limited to just five starts this season, posting a 3.33 ERA over his 24 1/3 innings.

 

In a pair of rehab starts, Sanchez worked his pitch count up from 64 to 76 without any issue. In his final outing for Triple-A Buffalo, the right-hander allowed three earned runs on five hits while walking three batters over 4 1/3 innings.

 

Morton is returning from an injury, too. The veteran right-hander has spent the past six weeks on the disabled list with a strained right lat muscle and will be making his first start since May 24.

 

The longer layoff required Morton to make three rehab starts. Most recently, with Double-A Corpus Christi, he threw 74 pitches.

Strikeouts have been the standout number for Morton this season, with his rate of 10.1 per nine innings being well above his career average of 6.6. He's hit double-digit strikeouts twice in his 10 starts, with 10 against the Yankees and 12 against the Athletics.

 

Manager A.J. Hinch said following Thursday's series opener that righty Dayan Diaz will be optioned to make room for Morton.

Things to watch for in this game

 

• Sanchez is taking back his rotation spot that had been occupied by Joe Biagini, who is expected to return to the bullpen. This could change, however, based on the status of Marcus Stroman, whose finger was "raw" after his last outing, which brought worry of blistering. Biagini would likely start in Stroman's next spot in the rotation if he couldn't go, which should be clarified by Friday.

 

• The most important pitch for Sanchez on Friday will be his curveball. As he's dealt with blister and fingernail issues throughout the season, that is the pitch he's pointed to as the leading cause. With the spin needed to throw a proper curve, the right-hander shied away from it at times, but should be able to embrace his full arsenal at full health.

 

• Morton was working on a stellar 25.8 percent strikeout rate before hitting the disabled list, so keep an eye out to see if he's still able to miss as many bats in his return -- especially those of left-handed batters. Coming in from the right-hand side, Morton has mostly employed his high-spin curveball (avg. 2,882 RPM, 6th-highest in MLB) and his cutter to bury the ball at lefties' back foot. So much for a platoon advantage for those lefties; they've missed on 30.6 percent of their swings so far against Morton, which is the fourth-highest rate among 115 qualified right-handed starters.

[Candy Maldonado]

[M.E.]

Can Sanchez give us 5 tonight? Coming off the DL probably not a high probablilty, however Biagini is in pen tonight so maybe they split game

[baubau]

 

Dammit Osuna, stop being so nice! "I waited for Smokey, .......but f*** you Correa! You lil b.."

[Omar]

Pearce batting ahead of Tulo.

[JaysAllMighty]

Cheers to all of you and our Jays for a great game and hopefully a win!

 

 

When they won their first game in this winning streak I predicted a 20 games winning streak. It's happening folks.

[Omar]

Biagini available out of the pen.

 

[EdwinsParrot]

Some s***** hits to start the game

[West Texas Forever]

Breaking bats and breaking hearts.

[bones10]

f*** off.....

[West Texas Forever]

Good play, one more out here Jays.

[bones10]

Thank the baseball gods

[West Texas Forever]

Derp.

[bones10]

Blah

[Candy Maldonado]

Osuna shouldn't have pissed him off

[jays4life19]

Double Derp.

[KevinGregg]

Ump is squeezing him pretty hard so far

[West Texas Forever]

Too much movement on those fastballs.

[JFD]

Nothing wrong with those calls. Shut up and throw strikes.

[bones10]

Just f***ing call them balls on them too please

[Omar]

wtf?????

[Candy Maldonado]

yikes watch it sanchez

[Spanky99]

I just tuned in... what was that yapping about?

[Omar]

Sanchez shouldnt chirp umpire like that....leave it to Gibby and your catcher.

[Daniel Labude]

Sanchez shouldnt chirp umpire like that....leave it to Gibby and your catcher.

 

Gibby only says something once the games out of hand

[Daniel Labude]

I just tuned in... what was that yapping about?

 

About 10 strikes called balls

[JFD]

About 10 strikes called balls

 

Nah they were balls. Ump has been fine.

[Daniel Labude]

Nah they were balls. Ump has been fine.

 

Disagree...at least 6 were strikes about 90% of the time...there were about 3 or 4 that were borderline ok calls

[Yippy]

Correa will probably have a monster game after the Osuna incident yesterday

[Spanky99]

Disagree...at least 6 were strikes about 90% of the time...there were about 3 or 4 that were borderline ok calls

 

Well, that would be his zone, hitters zone. As long as he calls it fair.