Rays (2-1) — Blue Jays (0-2)
The Toronto Blue Jays are in town for a four-game set against the Rays. Blake Snell makes his first start of the season, opposite WBC MVP Marcus Stroman.
Rays Pre-Game:
Last season, the Rays won 11-of-19 against the Jays. Historically, the team has had great success against the boys from Toronto. Since 2008, the Rays and Jays have faced each other 166 times – the Rays were victorious in 101 of those contests.
Tonight marks the fourth of 14 straight games against the AL East. Before the game tonight manager Kevin Cash spoke about the early season schedule.
The division is gonna be good…there’s five good teams in it and it’ll be an early month dog fight.
Snell has given up two runs or fewer in seven consecutive starts at home. That is the longest streak in franchise history. Chris Archer currently has a streak of six straight. The big question for the Rays will be how deep into the game Snell can go. He averaged fewer than five innings per start last season. Six of his starts were fewer than four innings.
Tonight’s Starting Lineup: #Rays #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/G3lekhOHtP
— The Scrum Sports (@TheScrumSports) April 6, 2017
Blue Jays Pre-Game:
For the second straight year, Stroman will face the Rays in his first start of the season. Last year he picked up the win on opening day going 8IP-6H-3ER-1BB-5K.
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and catcher Russell Martin are both looking for their first hit of the season. Tulo needs one more season of 20+ home runs to tie Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada (8) for the second-most such seasons among shortstops. Cal Ripken leads all shortstops with 12 seasons of 20 or more.
The Jays have a powerful offense led by Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson but according to the team’s play-by-play man Buck Martinez, the rotation is a strength as well. When asked about their rotation Martinez did not hesitate to say that the Blue Jays had “the best rotation in the AL East”.
Misc Pre-Game:
The Blue Jays claimed former Rays catcher Luke Maile. He will report to Triple-A Buffalo.
Outfielder Colby Rasmus makes his first rehab appearance in Port Charlotte tonight.
First pitch is at 7:10pm
