GDT: 2/4 Toronto Blue Jays @ Cleveland Guardians (Tuesday 7:10 ET)

[JaysAllMighty]

Toronto at Cleveland

 

 

 

Tuesday, August 8, 2023 07:10 PM (ET)

Matchup

 

 

Last Meeting ( Aug 7, 2023 ) Toronto 3, Cleveland 1

 

 

The Toronto Blue Jays will try for their fifth straight victory when they visit the Cleveland Guardians in the second game of their four-game series on Tuesday night.

 

After watching Monday's starter, veteran left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu, leave early after getting hit in the lower right leg with a line-drive comebacker, the Blue Jays will count on Yusei Kikuchi to go deep on Tuesday.

 

Kikuchi (9-3, 3.67 ERA) beat the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles in his most recent outing on Wednesday, limiting them to one run and six hits in six innings of a 4-1 victory.

 

It's the only loss in the past eight games for Baltimore.

 

"He was absolutely outstanding," Toronto manager John Schneider said. "He had electric stuff from the get-go. He landed curveballs and sliders out of the zone. His curveball, slider and fastball were just awesome."

 

It was the second straight victorious outing for Kikuchi, who held the Los Angeles Dodgers to one run and seven hits over six innings in an 8-1 victory on July 26.

 

He had not won consecutive starts since winning three in a row in April.

 

"I just thought about being patient until I got into a rhythm while trying to avoid giving up the first run," Kikuchi said. "I've had success staying on top of the count by mixing up pitches that move out of the strike zone and with some that curve into it."

 

Kikuchi has made three starts in his career against the Guardians, going 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA.

 

He last faced them on June 12, 2021, when he tossed seven shutout innings in a 5-4 loss in 10 innings.

 

Cleveland plans to counter with rookie right-hander Tanner Bibee.

 

Bibee (7-2, 3.14) won his final two starts of July and pitched well in his first outing of August, but came away without a decision.

 

He allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings against the Houston Astros last Wednesday and left with the score tied 2-2, but the Astros eventually won 3-2.

 

Bibee has not yet faced the Blue Jays.

 

Kole Calhoun made his debut for Cleveland on Saturday and continues to make an impact for the Guardians since the 35-year-old was acquired from the Dodgers on Friday in exchange for cash.

 

He contributed a base hit in each of his first two games and made a diving catch in right field on Monday against the Blue Jays, helping keep the game scoreless before Toronto eventually won 3-1.

 

Calhoun said he remembers players such as Torii Hunter, Vernon Wells and Jared Weaver taking him under their wings when he broke into the majors with the Los Angeles Angels in 2012.

 

"I was lucky," Calhoun said. "I was in a spot with some people that were good human beings and taught me how to go about the game the right way."

 

Calhoun said he prefers to lead by example.

 

"If there's a question, I think being an older guy, there's probably an answer there that is the right way to do things," Calhoun said.

 

--Field Level Media

 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by JaysAllMighty

[THANOS]

 

One of the grossest lineups of the year.

[G-Snarls]

 

One of the grossest lineups of the year.

 

Whit Merrifield ® LF

Brandon Belt (L) DH

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ® 1B

George Springer ® RF

Daulton Varsho (L) CF

Danny Jansen ® C

Cavan Biggio (L) 2B

Santiago Espinal ® 3B

Paul DeJong ® SS

[jaysthebest]

Espinal is playing again??? Wtf is wrong with the team.

 

He sucks.

[Masterbather]

Whit Merrifield ® LF

Brandon Belt (L) DH

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ® 1B

George Springer ® RF

Daulton Varsho (L) CF

Danny Jansen ® C

Cavan Biggio (L) 2B

Santiago Espinal ® 3B

Paul DeJong ® SS

 

Eww

[Terminator]

Espinal is playing again??? Wtf is wrong with the team.

 

He sucks.

 

We are in the middle of a 17 game stretch with no off days. It's also getting to be pretty late in the year so guys are tired.

 

I think the Jays are trying to "steal" a day off for some regulars both yesterday and today because the Indians are the worst team in the league against left handed pitching with a .656 OPS on the year against them. Most of the regulars like Whit, Chapman and Vlad have all gotten a day off in the past 3 days. Ryu yesterday and Kikuchi today should be able to keep them from scoring too many runs, thus allowing the team a good chance to still win.

 

As for Espinal playing 3rd today, my guess is they don't yet trust Schneider at the position at the MLB level so he's next man up.

[Jonn]

Well let's hope Kikuchi is good because that lineup is a trainwreck.

[Carlos Danger]

Is this just a rest day for Chappy, or is something up?

[BigCecil]

Some great news on Ryu today. Just a bone bruise. Sometimes they take awhile but still a best case scenario. He looked vintage last night and so fun to watch.

[Omar]

Let's Go Jays!!!!

[G-Snarls]

Some great news on Ryu today. Just a bone bruise. Sometimes they take awhile but still a best case scenario. He looked vintage last night and so fun to watch.

 

Glad to hear

 

Sounds painful but not dangerous

[max silver]

Some great news on Ryu today. Just a bone bruise. Sometimes they take awhile but still a best case scenario. He looked vintage last night and so fun to watch.

 

I had a bone bruise on my kneecap and it took months to get rid of. Hopefully with the advanced treatments Ryu will have available to him this won't be something that bothers him for the rest of the season.

[JaysAllMighty]

[Spanky99]

Lets GO... 5 in a row!!!

 

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*

 

[hanton]

I'd move Varsho to 4th or clean-up

[jaysguy44]

Good piece of hitting, Whit

[Jonn]

Why did the Indians pick him up. He was perfect for the Blue Jays.

[John_Havok]

Piss poor effort by Vlad. Gets a hanging breaking ball and still ends up going the other way. That should been murdered into the LF stands

 

What a moronic approach he has right now.

[Stangstag]

Piss poor effort by Vlad. Gets a hanging breaking ball and still ends up going the other way. That should been murdered into the LF stands

 

What??? Dude he smoked that, easily could’ve been a double in the gap

[Jonn]

Kikuchi was so confident Varsho was going to be out he was on the mound before the Second Baseman could finish the play.

[John_Havok]

What??? Dude he smoked that, easily could’ve been a double in the gap

 

EV was 91. It looked good momentarily off the bat but it was not hit nearly as hard as it looked.

 

But that’s not the point, why in the flying spaghetti monsters name is he trying to slap a hanging breaking ball the other way? That’s the exact pitch you should be trying to pull for power.

[John_Havok]

Kooch has that nice 96 going tonight. Could be a very nice night for him

[Spanky99]

EV was 91. It looked good momentarily off the bat but it was not hit nearly as hard as it looked.

 

xBA .590

[John_Havok]

xBA .590

 

Again, not the point. If you’re trying to pull hanging breaking balls in the happy happy HR heart of the plate when you’re Vlad Jr, wtf are you ever planning to pull? That’s my point here.

[Omar]

Espi looked like he gave up on that grounder down the line.

[Jonn]

Ramon crushes lefties. Could have been doing it for us.

[Masterbather]

Espi looked like he gave up on that grounder down the line.

 

He had no chance on that

[tossingthiscoin]

Can I say the Espinal 3B experiment is not going well already?

[el duque]

Good D KQsh

[Omar]