Sept. 25-27: Blue Jays vs. Rays Series Thread

[Antithesis]

Toronto Blue Jays (87-65, conquering Kings of the universe) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (75-78, their fan is really upset about how this season went)

Probable Starters:

Friday @5:00 Mountain Time: TOR: R.A. Dickey, 10-11, 4.05 ERA; TB: Jake Odorizzi, 8-8, 3.38 ERA
Saturday @11:00 Mountain Time: TOR: David Price, 17-5, 2.34 ERA; TB: Chris Archer, 12-12, 2.92 ERA
Sunday @11:00 Mountain Time: TOR: Mark Buehrle, 14-7, 3.69 ERA; TB: Matt Andriese, 3-5, 4.37 ERA

So, with the Indians defeating the Twins last night, the Jays' magic number for clinching a playoff spot is 2 games. They could clinch their first playoff berth since 1993 by the end of the night! I know that simply clinching into a Wild Card game isn't what any of us wants, but I think that's still a pretty big deal. The magic number to clinch the AL East remains at 8 after the Yankees beat the White Sox last night.

The pitching matchup on Saturday is going to be incredible - and should produce a great game. Would really like to see Donaldson figure things out and get the offense really humming along again too.

Gotta love meaningful September baseball!

Stats Time!

Over his career, current Rays hitters have the following stats vs. R.A. Dickey: 221 AB, 53 H, 7 HR, 40 K, 0.240 AVG, 0.332 OBP, 0.421 SLG, 0.753 OPS
Over his career, current Rays hitters have the following stats vs. David Price: 111 AB, 20 H, 3 HR, 32 K, 0.180 AVG, 0.209 OBP, 0.333 SLG, 0.542 OPS
Over his career, current Rays hitters have the following stats vs. Mark Buehrle: 321 AB, 89 H, 9 HR, 44 K, 0.277 AVG, 0.315 OBP, 0.411 SLG, 0.726 OPS

Over their careers, current Blue Jays hitters have the following stats vs. Jake Odorizzi: 73 AB, 14 H, 3 HR, 10 K, 0.192 AVG, 0.277 OBP, 0.356 SLG, 0.633 OPS
Over their careers, current Blue Jays hitters have the following stats vs. Chris Archer: 184 AB, 30 H, 7 HR, 48 K, 0.163 AVG, 0.244 OBP, 0.288 SLG, 0.512 OPS
Over their careers, current Blue Jays hitters have the following stats vs. Matt Andriese: 47 AB, 13 H, 3 HR, 7 K, 0.277 AVG, 0.306 OBP, 0.489 SLG, 0.785 OPS

OK!

BLUE JAYS!

LETS!

PLAY!

BALL!

[OBCT]

It feels like the Jays always struggle to hit the Rays; the Jays vs. Rays hitting stats above certainly appear to bear that notion out.

Wow, those stats vs. Chris Archer are just... geez. He'd be the greatest pitcher of all time if he only pitched against Toronto!

[Jiggy_12]

Great interview with Josh Donaldson
http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/video/josh-don...of-rain~712627

[The Big Chill]

Dickey is all over the place so far.

[Karl]

rough start for Dickey.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Looks like pre-All Star break Dickey is back. He frightens me as a potential playoff starter, you just never know what you're gonna get with him

[Caged Great]

Dome is open, makes for bad pitching from him.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Even when Dickey is "on", he always seems like he's flirting with disaster. If he doesn't place that knuckleball just right it becomes so easy to hit deep

[Karl]

Damn it MVP chases ball 4. Then Joey Bats grounds out hard to 3rd. Wasted opportunity.

[The Big Chill]

Frustrating. Lead off triple and we now need a 2 out hit to score him.

[Karl]

Crap! EE smokes a grounder straight up the middle, but right into the shift.

[The Big Chill]

This team sucks at small ball. JD has nobody out, runner on third, 3-0 count and can't score the runner.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Well that inning wasn't very good.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Dickey continues stellar performance so far.

[Jiggy_12]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

This team sucks at small ball. JD has nobody out, runner on third, 3-0 count and can't score the runner.

I don't think that has anything to do with small ball. Runner is at 3 already, not much JD can do other than try to hit the ball. Strike-outs happen...and he strikes out a lot. Bautista puts it in play but in the wrong spot, and Edwin had a hit taken away.

[whosurnabby]

This team sucks at small ball. JD has nobody out, runner on third, 3-0 count and can't score the runner.

If you want small ball, the Kansas City Royals might be more entertaining for you because they play that style. It's a 2 run lead against one of the most horrible bats in the AL, the Jays can tag em' for 3/4/5 runs in one inning. RELAX, this offence will get em'. And we have 8 more innings to go and on top of the AL East...plenty of ballgame left.

[Karl]

Nice Pennington. Gets us started.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by Jiggy_12

I don't think that has anything to do with small ball. Runner is at 3 already, not much JD can do other than try to hit the ball. Strike-outs happen...and he strikes out a lot. Bautista puts it in play but in the wrong spot, and Edwin had a hit taken away.

With 2 strikes he should have been looking to hit a fastball the other way. Anyways, doesn't matter, I'm sure he'll do something great before the night is through. I just think we should take advantage of scoring single runs more often.

[Karl]

C'mon Dickey. Keep it here. No more for the rays.

[Karl]

Nice catch Russell.