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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Apr 7, 2007
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Baltimore Orioles (44-43) @ Toronto Blue Jays (42-47)
Recent Trends
Baltimore:
- Lost 3 of 4
Toronto:
- Lost 4 of 5
*Game 1: 7:07pm
Daniel Cabrera (6-4) 4.34 (1.36), 66/47
vs.
Dustin McGowan (6-7) 4.36 (1.38), 83/37
These two have been pretty much even this year and McGowan is probably feeling the effects from his cumulative workload last season. Dustin is 4-2 with a 2.20 ERA at home, but he is 0-3 with a 6.84 ERA against us in seven starts. Here's hoping DC's last start means he is getting back on track. Advantage Baltimore.
*Game 2: 7:07pm
Garrett Olson (6-3) 5.04 (1.49), 45/26
vs.
A.J. Burnett (8-8) 4.92 (1.49), 111/53
Olson has been up and down this year, but I think he has a solid major league career ahead of him despite his rocky season thus far. Lucky for him, he'll be facing "Average A.J." as I now call him because he's just that, average. Once again, he sits with a .500 record and even has the inflated ERA and WHIP to go with it. Burnett is 5-3 with a 5.74 ERA at home this year and is 5-1/4.53 against us for his career. Olson on the other hand has a 5.75 on the road, but carries a 2.84 on turf which should benefit him. I think we can win this one too. Advantage Baltimore.
*Game 3: 7:07pm
Jeremy Guthrie (5-7) 3.61 (1.22), 80/36
vs.
Roy Halladay (10-6) 2.88 (1.04), 113/20 **L2: 1.12 (.68), 13/1
Halladay has only 20 walks in 137 innings this year and is having is pitching like a Cy Young candidate, but unfortunately, he's on a bad team and only has 10 wins. Ten is a lot, but he should have more and Guthrie should have his hands full here facing a much better pitcher. I can't pick against him here even though Guthrie is going, so advantage Toronto.
The trump card, of course, is our bullpen which seems weaker with each passing day since losing Albers and now Loewen again for who knows how long. Whether we hold the advantages in games one and two is yet to be seen. I don't think we get swept here and I don't think we sweep, but the bullpen makes me think we will find a way to lose two games here. If Olson and DC can go seven innings to get right to Johnson, we should be okay, but that's a big "if" especially with Olson. Can we get to the break at or above .500? Here's hoping so.
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Reputation:97
Level:Superstar
Since:Nov 28, 2006
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Hey, sess ... nice job as usual.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say sweep ... just call it a gut feeling. That's a bit optimistic on my part, I know, but I think we take the first two as you mention, and tweak out a W against Halladay.
DC will continue with his more "poised and polish" look, and we win tonight, like we usual do in series openers. Then we rock Burnett behind an OK start by Olson in a relatively high scoring affair. Finally, Guthrie almost completely shuts down the Jays on Thursday, and we win a close 2-1 or 3-2 game.
Again, I just have a feeling about this series. Our bullpen may not be as bad as it seems, we have our best 3 (current) starters going here, and our offense has been on fire. We always seem to hit well on turf, and Toronto just has not played well this year, so I say let's take 3!
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Apr 8, 2008
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Has anyone noticed that Cabrera pitches like an ace against bad teams? I don't think he just gets shelled by the good teams because they're good: I think he knows he can beat the bad teams, so he goes out and does it. So against a Toronto cellar-dwelling team, I'm calling a win in the first game. Olson in the second game... I don't know what to expect really. Burnett has been off-and-on as has been Olson. It's a toss-up. I may be wrong on this, but is Sunday's matchup a rematch or did Halladay not pitch against Guthrie? Either way, this will be close. I think we hit Halladay for three runs last game. Not spectacular, but Toronto's offense has been more than inept, and Guthrie has been outstanding this season. Since we won't be playing on a Sunday, we have about an even shot at a win. I say we don't get swept, with an outside chance at getting a sweep.
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Jan 15, 2007
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I think this whole series hangs on whether Daniel Cabrera goes deep into game one. IF he does, we'll get some sorely needed rest for the bullpen which could set us up for a chance to sweep on Thursday. We could even pull it off since there aren't any Sunday games in the series.
If Cabrera doesn't last, it'll set us up to fall like dominoes...not just in this series but in Boston as well. It worries me that the Red Sox series will feature Brian Burres, Radhames Liz, and Daniel Cabrera, because that could mean really rolling the dice with Cabrera (on a Sunday) to avoid the sweep, especially if we don't keep the pen rested between now and then.
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Jan 8, 2007
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The last time Jeremy Guthrie pitched against A.J. Burnett. Roy Halladay pitched the sunday game against Radhames Liz. Halladay got the win even though he gave up 4. Liz pitched 5 innings with 2 ER, but Matt Albers took the loss giving up 3 in the 6th. I think that Guthrie pitching, the Blue Jays struggling and the fact that it's not a sunday game gives the Orioles a good chance to win, and hopefully complete a sweep.
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Matchups: Toronto Blue Jays
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Reputation:96
Level:Superstar
Since:Feb 8, 2008
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Considering that we don't have to play on Sunday during this series really gives me confidence that we should take two out of three. Even though the pitching matchups are even, I think the O's have the hitting advantage. The team has been hot lately(from a hitting standpoint), and Adam Jones is destroying pitchers. I had my doubts about him a few weeks ago, but he's been really impressive. The bullpen is beat up, and I'm going to assume that we'll lose one of the games because of it.
The way I look at it, we win the first two, but blow the t | |
