The Toronto Blue Jays return to the Rogers Centre after an eight-game road trip, having gone 6-2, outscoring their opponents 67–35 in the process.
Entering a weekend series against the Detroit Tigers, the Blue Jays are looking to add to their 1.5-game lead in the AL East with victories against a scuffling Tigers squad that has taken losses in six of their last seven outings.
Friday, Aug. 28 – 7:07 p.m. ET
R.A. Dickey vs. Matt Boyd
Saturday, Aug. 29 – 1:07 p.m. ET
Drew Hutchison vs. Buck Farmer
Sunday, Aug. 30 – 1:07 p.m. ET
Mark Buehrle vs. Alfredo Simon
Mining the depth chart
With David Price now a Blue Jay and Anibal Sanchez, Shane Greene, Kyle Lobstein, and Daniel Norris on the DL, the Tigers’ rotation starts strong with Justin Verlander, but falls off after that: Alfredo Simon, Matt Boyd, Randy Wolf, and Buck Farmer currently sit in spots 2–5.
The Jays face Boyd, Farmer, and Simon over the weekend, avoiding the small contingent of Detroit starters who are both healthy and possess ERAs below 4.88.
About a Boyd
After arriving in Detroit as part of the David Price trade, Matt Boyd returns to Toronto on Friday to face his former team for the first time.
In four starts since joining the Tigers, Boyd has a 1-2 record after allowing 12 runs over 23.1 innings of work. Boyd has improved his ERA to 7.04—his two starts for Toronto had him sporting an ERA of 14.85—but he faces a tough assignment against a Jays team that has consistently dismantled left-handed pitching since the start of the season.
Let the Edwing soar
Edwin Encarnacion hasn’t gone hitless in a game since July 25, and he’s not keeping his streak alive with bloop singles: In his last three games, he’s tallied one hit per game, with two home runs—one a grand slam—and a double. Encarnacion’s 22-game streak entering Friday’s game is the longest in the league so far this season.
Hutchison returns
With the Jays reconstituting their five-man rotation this weekend, Drew Hutchison will be back in a Blue Jays uniform after a single start for the Buffalo Bisons. In his four innings of triple-A work, Hutchison struck out four, allowing two earned runs.
Hutchison faces off against Buck Farmer, who’s coming off the best outing of his career: He entered the fifth inning not having allowed a hit, but recorded only one out in the sixth, giving up two home runs and three earned runs before leaving the game.
Tigers on his back
In his 13 games since returning from a six-week stint on the DL due to a calf injury, Miguel Cabrera has nine multi-hit games. The 32-year-old first baseman is slashing .367/.469/.606 this season; his batting average and on-base percentage are tops in MLB.
If Toronto pitchers can find a way to stifle Cabrera, there won’t be much standing between the Jays and a third consecutive series win.
