Aug. 14-16: Blue Jays vs. Yankees Series Thread

[Antithesis]

Toronto Blue Jays (64-52, conquering Kings of the universe) vs. New Boo York Yankees (62-51, 2nd place in AL East)

Probable Starters:

Friday @5:00 PM Mountain Time: TOR: David Price, 11-4, 2.35 ERA; NYY: Ivan Nova, 4-4, 3.52 ERA
Saturday @11:00 AM Mountain Time: TOR: Marco Estrada, 10-6, 3.21 ERA; NYY: Masahiro Tanaka, 8-5, 3.79 ERA
Sunday @11:00 AM Mountain Time: TOR: Drew Hutchison, 11-2, 5.26 ERA; NYY: Luis Severino, 0-1, 2.45 ERA

The Blue Jays are the only team since the 1954 Kansas City Royals to have two 11-game winning streaks in the same season. Tonight, they are seeking a 12th-straight victory, which would represent a franchise record; their current 11-game streak is tied with four other 11-game streaks for that record at the moment. Additionally, the Blue Jays are the 4th-fastest team to overcome a 8.0 or 8.5 game deficit and take the outright division lead in MLB history, doing so in 14 games.

Everything is coming up Blue Jays at the moment, isn't it? Their VP of Marketing was on the pre-game show last night and mentioned that since they traded for Tulowitzki, they have sold over 440,000 tickets.

The Blue Jays are now favored to win the division, according to FanGraphs. They have a 57.0% likelihood of doing so vs. the Yankees 39.2% chance. The Jays also have a 36.4% chance of taking a Wild Card spot, meaning FanGraphs calculates their odds of making the playoffs as 93.4% likely. Here is some more information about their recent surge represented visually, courtesy of ESPN.com:



Excellent!

If the Jays sweep this series, they will have a 3.5 game lead on the Yankees for the division. The the Jays win two of three, they will have a 1.5 game lead. We won't consider other possibilities.

As always, fans new and old: don't be shy! This is a strict anti-bandwagon-shaming zone. The more people posting and participating, the better; if you have a question, ask it! We are all happy to answer and discuss baseball with you.

Info on the pitchers!

Over his career, current Yankee hitters have the following stats vs. David Price: 278 AB, 70 H, 8 HR, 67 K, 0.252 AVG, 0.320 OBP, 0.421 SLG, 0.741 OPS
Over his career, current Yankee hitters have the following stats vs. Marco Estrada: 81 AB, 22 H, 4 HR, 16 K, 0.272 AVG, 0.326 OBP, 0.444 SLG, 0.770 OPS
Over his career, current Yankee hitters have the following stats vs. Drew Hutchison: 97 AB, 22 H, 7 HR, 25 K, 0.227 AVG, 0.347 OBP, 0.485 SLG, 0.832 OPS

OK!

BLUE JAYS!

LETS!

PLAY!

BALL!

[username]

This series is going to be crazy. I'd love to be in Toronto right now........

[Yoho]

It's going down for real!!

[Enoch Root]

Just win the series. If they do that, they will have a game and a half lead and will have caught the Yankees in the loss column.

[cavalera403]

Huge series in a different way from last weekend. You have to make hay while the sun is out and if by some way you could get all three and give yourself some breathing room it would be invaluable. The Jays will lose (not many) again and the Yankees will not keep getting swept.

The rest for Troy was big yesterday and the laugher game really took some mental pressure off for a few innings ( put up 10 and coast)

I am in Seattle this weekend and won't be glued to a TV but my roaming data is going to get hammered checking the AtBat app. Thank god for free Starbucks/ wifi on every corner

[JiriHrdina]

I still can't grasp how Hutch is 11-2!

[nik-]

I demand a sweep!

[brocoli]

The Yankees offence just has to wake up. I feel good with Price starting this, but I fear that their offence can't stay so dormant for so long. I have a really bad feeling about Sunday's game. Jays win the series, but no sweep

[Caged Great]

I doubt that they'll throw Hutch in the 3rd game. Makes more sense to have Dickey go instead and save Hutch for the Phillies. It'll throw off the Yanks timing, which would be a good thing, especially with how their offense has had difficulties after facing two knucklers in 4 days last week.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

I still can't grasp how Hutch is 11-2!

And a -1 WAR.

Crazy to think that a pitcher who is supposed to have negative Wins vs replacement, is 11-2.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

And a -1 WAR.

Crazy to think that a pitcher who is supposed to have negative Wins vs replacement, is 11-2.

The specific term for his season is horseshoes up his posterior.

[Pagal4321]

EE is back in the lineup, hopefully he takes the parrot for a few walks.

[Jason14h]

The specific term for his season is horseshoes up his posterior.

Sort of.

He's 9-1 with like a 2.50 ERA at home. Most of those should be wins

The no decisions are lucky on the road though

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Sort of.

He's 9-1 with like a 2.50 ERA at home. Most of those should be wins

The no decisions are lucky on the road though

Lucky?

His ERA on the road is 9.0. He has given up 54 runs in 11 appearances.

His 2-1 record isn't lucky, it's criminal.

But yes, he has been good at home and probably doesn't deserve the grief he's gotten.

[JBR]

We got this.

Let's go Yankees!

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by JBR

We got this.

Let's go Yankees!

This one with Mr. Price on the mound? I doubt it.

[JBR]

Originally Posted by Yoho

This one with Mr. Price on the mound? I doubt it.

Yankees have hit him well throughout his career, other than the last start.

4.41 era (3.12 vs other teams) and a 10-7 record in 27 starts. Not exactly dominant.

Hopefully the trend will continue tonight.

[BloodFetish]

Hey Antithesis, just wanted to say thanks for the time and research you're putting into the series thread. Very enjoyable reads!

[Karl]

Thank goodness the Chardy-Isner match is over. Now SN can focus on Blue Jays Baseball.

[Lil Pedro]

Looks like the roof is closed tonight