Rangers at Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays hit a rough patch against the American League East's elite teams over the past week but hope to have some better results against the last-place team in the AL West when the Texas Rangers visit Friday for the first of three games. The Blue Jays went 2-5 in a stretch against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox with three of the losses coming by one run.
The latest of those setbacks was a 5-4 decision against the Red Sox on Thursday in which Toronto produced just two hits over its final six innings while falling to 8-5 at home. The Blue Jays are 8-2 against teams outside their division and won two of three at Texas earlier in the month. That was the beginning of a 5-12 slide for the Rangers, who managed to avoid a sweep against Oakland by winning 4-2 on Wednesday behind a rare solid effort by a struggling bullpen. "To get these guys out there and off the field in positive situations, close the door for them, I believe will go a long ways to get them back on track mentally and physically," Texas manager Jeff Banister told reporters.
TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Texas), Sportsnet (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers LH Mike Minor (1-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Marcus Stroman (0-2, 8.55)
Minor rebounded from a rocky outing two turns ago to limit Seattle to a run over 5 1/3 innings his last time out. The 30-year-old dominated Toronto on April 7 at home by allowing a run and just two hits across six frames while striking out a season-high seven, picking up his first win as a starter since 2014. Steve Pearce is 3-for-5 with a home run and a walk against Minor, who is 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in his career against the Blue Jays.
Stroman has yet to produce a quality start in 2018 and he was nowhere close to doing so in a loss at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. He allowed six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings while walking four batters and has issued 14 free passes in 20 innings this season. The Duke product was the losing pitcher opposite Minor earlier this month after giving up five runs over 4 2/3 innings and he owns a 6.89 ERA in three lifetime starts versus Texas.
WALK-OFFS
1. Blue Jays OF Randal Grichuk was 0-for-4 in Thursday's loss and is 5-for-63 on the season.
2. Rangers 1B Joey Gallo has seven walks in his last eight games.
3. Toronto 2B Devon Travis is 6-for-20 over his last six games after going 3-for-38 through his first 11 contests.