Thursday, July 18, 2019

#98 - Toronto Blue Jays (36-61) at Boston Red Sox (52-44)



Thursday, July 18, 2019 | 1:05 pm
Fenway Park | Boston, Massholia

Thomas Pannone (2-3, 6.18, 1.50) vs. Chris Sale (3-9, 4.27, 1.10)


PREAMBLE:

After making things interesting once again in the late innings, the Blue Jays look to recover and pull out a split of the four-game series with a win today.  After this game, the Jays fly to Detroit to take on the Tigers.

In this afternoon's finale, Thomas Pannone has been brought in from Buffalo to save the day for the Jays.  He'll go up against Chris Sale, who has been struggling all season to rediscover his form and is 0-3, 4.79 at Fenway Park in nine starts this year.  The Blue Jays have scored 14 runs in 14.2 innings (three starts) against Sale in a bizarro 2019 - good against Sale and meh against just about everyone else.


NOTES:

Nick Bingham has been designated for assignment to make room for Thomas Pannone.  Pannone's flight to Boston was cancelled by bad weather so he ended up using a car service for a 6+ hour trip ... and he's at Fenway, ready to go.

Vlad Jr. is batting sixth today. Good, take some pressure off the kid and just let him hit his way out until his confidence is back.

Rafael Devers has been destroying Blue Jay pitching in 2019, with a seasonal franchise record 25 RBI in 14 games against the Jays.

Nice to see Ken Giles back on the mound -- his rustiness was evident, but it should be reassuring to potential trading partners to see him on a mound again.

Teoscar has 45 career home runs.  11 have come against the Red Sox.

If you're a fan of the Sheepdogs, check this out:


TRADE BAIT OUTLOOK:

  • Marcus Stroman has up to three starts left as a Blue Jay; if he goes out there on his normal every-5th-Jay-game schedule and is fully healthy, he'll be starting tomorrow at the Tigers, July 24th vs. the Indians, and July 30th at the Royals.
  • Ken Giles pitched last night, so he should be fine.  Let's get him a save opp soon, mmkay?
  • Freddy Galvis has settled in the last month-and-half after a cold May, and is on pace for about 2.5 bWAR.
  • Eric Sogard continues to have a career season on a pace for about 3.2 bWAR, hitting .299/.367/.488 with a career high 10 HRs and a 126 wRC+.  He'll be useful for teams needing infield help.
  • Justin Smoak is Justin Smoak.  Teams know what they're getting from him, low average/good OBP/good power/won't hurt you on D.


LINEUPS:


This is your "let's go to Detroit with a split" game thread.