The Toronto Blue Jays (20-27) will attempt to capitalize on a 12-6 pounding of the Baltimore Orioles (25-22) last night and begin their climb back into American League East contention in the second game of an important four-game series with Baltimore. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. and can be live streamed for free by clicking this link or at MLB.com for a subscription fee. Blue Jays can listen to the game at SN590 while Orioles fans can turn their radio dial to 1090 WBAL.
After a very rocky start to the 2013 campaign the Blue Jays have quietly thumped their way to victories in 10 of their last 16 games, and sit 8.5 games out of first place in the American League East, and seven games back in the wild card hunt. While those are not impressive distances, they don't appear insurmountable.
Tonight the Blue Jays will send left-hander Sean Nollin (0-0, 0.00 ERA) to the mound to make his major league debut. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons offered high praise when asked about Nollin, saying, "He's got the stuff to do it. He's pitching in a nice little groove, and we need somebody."
The Orioles have hit the skids a bit since a torrid start that had them looking the part of an angry group with chips on their shoulders because the majority of the baseball world viewed their 2012 success as a fluke. While they are clearly a quality baseball club, their team ERA of 4.38 doesn't scream division champion. They will send Chris Tillman (3-2, 3.56 ERA) to the hill; with Wei-Yin Chen on the disabled list Tillman is the Orioles' starter with the lowest ERA.
The Orioles will also look to Chris Davis, who seems to have added batting average to his already prodigious power, to pace the offense. This season Davis is hitting .327, the highest average he's posted since his rookie year when he batted .285 in 80 games for the Texas Rangers.
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