Aug. 18-19: Blue Jays vs. Phillies Series Thread

[Antithesis]

Toronto Blue Jays (65-54, conquering Kings of the universe) vs. Philadelphia Filthadelphia Phillies (46-72, literally the worst team in the league)

Probable Starters:

Tuesday @5:00 PM Mountain Time: TOR: R.A. Dickey, 7-10, 3.96 ERA; PHI: Aaron Nola, 3-1, 4.25 ERA
Wednesday @5:00 PM Mountain Time: TOR: Mark Buehrle, 13-5, 3.51 ERA; PHI: Adam Morgan, 3-4, 4.11 ERA

OK, so the series against the Yankees didn't go quite as planned, but it was good to see the Jays fight back in that last game. Really, that was some good baseball, with two solid teams going at each other. I'll enjoy watching 7 more of those!

OOT scoreboard wasn't kind to the Jays last night as a bunch of teams made up a game in hand. As far as I can tell, literally every game ended with the worst outcome. But no matter! The Jays control their own destiny, and they are continuing to play some really sound baseball.

The Jays optioned Drew Hutchison and Aaron Loup down to Buffalo, recalling Ezequiel Carrera and Matt Hague to the pros. Carrera is up to give the Jays a 4th outfielder, giving Gibbons some added flexibility with a series in an NL ballpark. Hague is interesting - he has absolutely mashed at the plate this season and has kind of come out of nowhere (from what I can tell). Expect Hutchison to be back up by the end of the month as the Jays sent him down because the huge number of off days they have coming up means they can go with a 4-man rotation.

Crazy viewership numbers continue to come in for the Jays: 2.03 million Canadians tuned in to watch the game on Friday night, which represents Sportsnet's largest audience ever, for any programming. Apparently, 3.14 million Canadians were watching Tulowitzki's 9th inning AB as well. This is where I'll put the usual anti-bandwagon-shaming statement: fans new and old are welcome and encouraged to post.

Stats time:

Over his career, current Phillies hitters have the following stats vs. R.A. Dicket: 99 AB, 24 H, 2 HR, 31 K, 0.242 AVG, 0.296 OBP, 0.374 SLG, 0.670 OPS
Over his career, current Phillies hitters have the following stats vs. Mark Buehrle : 65 AB, 12 H, 1 HR, 12 K, 0.185 AVG, 0.243 OBP, 0.262 SLG, 0.504 OPS

OK!

BLUE JAYS!

LETS!

PLAY!

BALL!

[Lil Pedro]

Would love to see Tulo get going on this road trip. He statistically hits very well against lefties,many I believe the jays face a few on this trip

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Homecoming already for Ben Revere. I wonder if that will give him some extra motivation in this series.

Tulo should be more comfortable against NL pitching, so hopefully that gets him going again.

Both our starters have strong numbers against the Phillies. I would be genuinely shocked if they struggled against them.

It will be interesting to see how they get guys in the lineup. EE, Colabello, Smoak all play first and Colabello can play a below average LF, but then where does Revere play? Plus, there are now two extra players on the bench. Do we see guys like Donaldson and Bautista get a rest if they end up playing in a laugher? They'll need them fresh down the stretch to take a serious run at the division.

Honestly, if they don't win both of these games against the worst team in the entire league I'll be disappointed.

[bomber317]

The Phillies have been playing well since the All-star break. No longer the pushovers of the first half.

I'm hoping the Jays do not take them lightly, don't take the foot off the gas and go for the blowout wins!

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by bomber317

The Phillies have been playing well since the All-star break. No longer the pushovers of the first half.

I'm hoping the Jays do not take them lightly, don't take the foot off the gas and go for the blowout wins!

I'm really interested to see how the Jays do in these games; were the struggles they had offensively vs. the Yankees because they were playing a high-end team, or because the offense is in a rut (ala the Angels)?

[Antithesis]

Wow, Mr. First Inning is at it again. 1-0 Jays!

[KelVarnsen]

The bringer of rain!

[The Big Chill]

3-1 Jays! Big hit by Carrera.

[Mightyfire89]

Nice job by Carrera!

What's with Revere since he joined the Jays? He hasn't been hitting worth a damn.

[Antithesis]

Dickey gives one back here in the 3rd but he's been making some great pitches ... and then picked off the runner at 1st.

[Antithesis]

Damn, 2 on, none out for the Phillies in the 4th.

[Antithesis]

... and then gets a double play. Hopefully no 2-out, guy on third hit this inning.

[Caged Great]

Dickey's hasn't been as sharp today. Hopefully a DP is upcoming.

EDIT: There it is.

[Antithesis]

Dickey is definitely not as sharp today. 4-3 Phillies.

[Mightyfire89]

RA having a rough inning.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

This game is frustrating me.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Bases loaded none out. Not good.

[The Big Chill]

This is ridiculous.

[KelVarnsen]

Sigh

[Antithesis]

Not going well at all. Hopefully they can end the inning without too much damage.