GDT: A's @ Blue Jays Game 3 of 4 7:07 EST

[Spanky99]

Blue Jays Lineup...

 

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

 

Marco Estrada, RHP

 

Estrada is 0-5 with a 9.52 ERA since the start of June and he's walked 26 batters over his last 28 innings. One red flag? Estrada complained of fatigue in his last outing despite entering the fifth with 57 pitches.

 

A's Lineup...

 

1. Matt Joyce (L) RF

2. Marcus Semien ® SS

3. Jed Lowrie (S) 2B

4. Khris Davis ® LF

5. Yonder Alonso (L) 1B

6. Ryon Healy ® DH

7. Matt Chapman ® 3B

8. Josh Phegley ® C

9. Rajai Davis ® CF

 

Paul Blackburn, RHP

 

Blackburn suffered the first loss of his career Friday, surrendering four runs on six hits, including a home run, in 5 1/3 innings against the Mets. He had completed at least six innings in each of his previous three starts.

 

PREVIEW...

 

By Keegan Matheson / MLB.com

 

The Blue Jays will send Marco Estrada to the mound on Wednesday night in Toronto against the Athletics with speculation building ahead of the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline.

 

Estrada is a pending free agent at the end of this season, making him one of the Blue Jays players expected to draw interest in the coming days. The right-hander's value remains relatively low, however, as he enters play with a 5.52 ERA.

 

Toronto's bullpen has been worked hard this season, and their 363 2/3 innings pitched entering Tuesday's game rank them second in the American League behind the Orioles. Estrada's starts have been part of this problem, with six of his last seven outings lasting fewer than five innings.

 

Oakland will counter with rookie Paul Blackburn, who will be making his fifth Major League start. The 23-year-old has found some early success, posting a 2.88 ERA, but did allow four earned runs over 5 1/3 innings last time out against the Mets.

 

Blackburn was never a high-strikeout pitcher in his Minor League career, but that has become particularly prominent since his promotion at the beginning of the month. Over 25 innings of work with the Athletics, Blackburn has struck out just nine batters and walked seven.

 

The Athletics are also expected to have reliever Frankie Montas back in their bullpen on Wednesday. Montas had to stay back due to visa issues, but was scheduled to fly in on Tuesday night.

 

 

• The first inning has been particularly unkind to Estrada, which has kept him from working deep into games several times this season. In 20 first innings, Estrada has allowed 15 runs on 23 hits and 12 walks. Opponents have posted a .902 OPS over that time.

 

• This series brings together two teams who are extremely reliant on the home run ball. Entering play on Tuesday, the Blue Jays had the league's highest rate of runs scored by home runs at 51.1%. The Athletics sit just behind them in third place with a rate of 48.8%.

 

• Through May, Estrada allowed a .226 batting average, just above his Statcast-expected average of .212 based on the quality of contact against him. But since June 1, Estrada's .341 average allowed is 84 points above his .257 xBA, the second-largest gap among more than 100 pitchers with at least 150 opponent at-bats during that time.

 

LETS GO BLUE JAYS *CLAP, CLAP* *CLAP, CLAP, CLAP*

 

LETS GO BLUE JAYS *CLAP, CLAP* *CLAP, CLAP, CLAP*

 

LETS GO BLUE JAYS *CLAP, CLAP* *CLAP, CLAP, CLAP*

 

 

Hey A's...

 

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img911/724/K02O1z.gif

[Candy Maldonado]

they would be caught with faster outfielders buck, even Gruber would have got to them

[Spanky99]

Welp... get out of this Marco.

[Cleveland Steamer]

Estrada is toast.

[Spanky99]

There we go!

[Jonn]

Wasn't pretty but it works.

[G-Snarls]

Phew

 

That's all I have to say

[Spanky99]

Nice start Bats!

[Jonn]

Smoak chasing widly scares the s*** out of me. I just have a fear he can turn into his former self at anytime.

[Orgfiller]

Smoak is so good.

[Orgfiller]

Smoak chasing widly scares the s*** out of me. I just have a fear he can turn into his former self at anytime.

 

It was one swing and he made contact lol. I understand your concerns but until he has a 4 strikeout game where he can't hit a breaking ball then we should remain optimistic.

[Spanky99]

lol

[Orgfiller]

So many double plays, ugh.

[Effit]

Who didn't see that coming...

[EdwinsParrot]

Not a jays game without the gidp

[glory]

Morales is so bad. Please find a taker for him and keep Pearce. Eat up all his salary, who cares.

[Jonn]

The most annoying part of this season might be realizing Morales is signed for another 2 years and can only DH. Such a black hole.

[Jonn]

It was one swing and he made contact lol. I understand your concerns but until he has a 4 strikeout game where he can't hit a breaking ball then we should remain optimistic.

 

He had 2 bad swings in that at-bat. All what you said is true. But Smoak missing balls by a foot was burned into my brain. Its so f***ing weird how different he is.

[KevinGregg]

The most annoying part of this season might be realizing Morales is signed for another 2 years and can only DH. Such a black hole.

 

I hate him so much. I just continue to have faith that whatever Shatkins saw in his bat will manifest itself at some point

[Cleveland Steamer]

Rumour Royals are interested in Liriano.

[Jonn]

I hate him so much. I just continue to have faith that whatever Shatkins saw in his bat will manifest itself at some point

 

Well he hits balls hard. AVG exit velo is rather elite. He just hits an alarming amount of ground balls. It would also be nice if he didn't swing at everything.

[Spanky99]

Nice Marco!

[TBJ12]

Strike 3 to Smoak wasn't close.

[P2F]

Morales is a career .340 wOBA hitter, you guys - that's comfortably above average. Even in this down year, he's still a league average bat. Obviously, for the contract he signed, we need more from him.

 

But wait!

 

His xStats indicate that his numbers this season should have been a lot better than they have been so far, so perhaps it's just a case of him getting more than his fair share of bad luck.

 

Everybody calm their titties!

[TBJ12]

Morales is a career .340 wOBA hitter, you guys - that's comfortably above average. Even in this down year, he's still a league average bat. Obviously, for the contract he signed, we need more from him.

 

But wait!

 

His xStats indicate that his numbers this season should have been a lot better than they have been so far, so perhaps it's just a case of him getting more than his fair share of bad luck.

 

Everybody calm their titties!

 

He's a slow, old, DH only bat who could be replaced at league min.

[Spanky99]

Sheeeeeit.

[TBJ12]

I'm not even sure Morales would get $5M next season. Would he even get a MLB deal?

[P2F]

He's a slow, old, DH only bat who could be replaced at league min.

 

Okay, yeah, sure. Just disregard everything I said if it suits your narrative.

 

Nobody's arguing that Shatkins probably overpaid for his services, but we're stuck with him. I'm merely pointing out that there's a lot of potential offensive upside to what we've seen from Kendrys so far.

[TBJ12]

Okay, yeah, sure. Just disregard everything I said if it suits your narrative.

 

Nobody's arguing that Shatkins probably overpaid for his services, but we're stuck with him. I'm merely pointing out that there's a lot of potential upside from what we've seen from Kendrys so far.

 

What upside exactly?

[Jonn]

Estrada falling apart in the 5th again ugh. I was hoping he could pitch 6 scoreless and restore some trade value.