Blue Jays Lineup...
1. Kevin Pillar ® CF
2. Josh Donaldson ® 3B
3. Jose Bautista ® RF
4. Kendrys Morales (S) DH
5. Justin Smoak (S) 1B
6. Troy Tulowitzki ® SS
7. Russell Martin ® C
8. Ezequiel Carrera (L) LF
9. Ryan Goins (L) 2B
Joe Biagini RHP
Biagini was fully stretched out in his last start and looked very strong, allowing just one earned run over seven innings on 100 pitches. He forced plenty of ground-ball contact and leaned on his curveball more than ever, even when behind.
Mariners Lineup...
1. Ben Gamel (L) RF
2. Guillermo Heredia ® LF
3. Robinson Cano (L) 2B
4. Nelson Cruz ® DH
5. Kyle Seager (L) 3B
6. Danny Valencia ® 1B
7. Mike Zunino ® C
8. Jarrod Dyson (L) CF
9. Taylor Motter ® SS
Sam Gaviglio RHP
The 27-year-old rookie has won his past two starts against the Rockies and Rays and is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA in four starts since moving to the rotation. He’s allowed just one run and seven hits in 10 innings over two Safeco Field starts.
PREVIEW...
By Gregor Chisholm / MLB.com |
The Blue Jays are set to open a three-game series against the Mariners on Friday night at Safeco Field, but they won't be traveling alone.
Thousands of fans from north of the border are expected to descend upon Seattle for this weekend set. It has become an annual tradition from fans from Western Canada to arrive in a sea of blue and turn Seattle's ballpark into a home away from home.
Second-year Mariners manager Scott Servais got his first experience with the Canadian migration last season.
"Surprise would probably be a good way to put it," Servais said. "I remember when we stood out there for the national anthems and they played 'O Canada' and I turned to [bench coach] Tim Bogar, who stands next to me every day, and I said, 'Oh man. There's a lot of people here that aren't rooting for us.'
"That's just the reality of it. It'll be a lively weekend again. They have a good club. It's always competitive games against them. They're at full strength again, it looks all their players are back that were out last time we played them. We'll have our hands full."
Right-hander Joe Biagini will get the call in the series opener, while the Mariners are set to counter with righty Sam Gaviglio. This is the second time these two teams have met this season after Toronto swept a four-game series at Rogers Centre from May 11-14.
Biagini, who is about to make his seventh career start, is coming off an outing against the Yankees that saw him allow three runs -- one earned -- on four hits while striking out six over seven strong innings of work.
"Your job is to try and prevent guys from hitting the ball hard consistently," said Biagini, who took the loss despite the solid start. "Sometimes when you do that, it doesn't work out. But if you continue to do that, you can try to limit the damage and stay within striking distance for some of our hitters. It just kind of went all one way and not the other."
Gaviglio allowed one earned run on four hits and six strikeouts over five innings in a 9-2 victory over the Rays last Saturday. This will be the rookie's fifth start, but he has gone more than five innings just once so far this season.
Three things to know about this game:
• The Mariners expect to have designated hitter Nelson Cruz back after the slugger missed the past two games with a sore right calf. Shortstop Jean Segura remains on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained ankle and right fielder Mitch Haniger is in Triple-A Tacoma rehabbing from a strained oblique. The club is also still minus starting pitchers Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Drew Smyly, though James Paxton is back in the rotation and is scheduled to start Sunday.
• Toronto had scored three runs or fewer in four consecutive games prior to Wednesday's series finale in Oakland. Justin Smoak and Kevin Pillar helped put an end to that skid with a pair of home runs in the second.
• Biagini has induced what Statcast defines as poor contact -- including balls topped into the ground or hit under -- on 71.8 percent of his batted balls this season. That's the third-highest rate for any pitcher with at least 100 batted balls.
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*