The host Toronto Blue Jays will be out to clinch both their three-game series as well as the season set against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday afternoon.
The Blue Jays took the opener of a three-game series Friday night with a 2-0 victory. They won two of three games from the Angels in Anaheim, Calif., from April 20-22.
Toronto’s Dylan Cease, who earned the win on April 20 when he struck out 12 batters, fanned 10 in seven innings on Friday. Teammate Trey Yesavage (1-1, 0.96 ERA), a right-hander, is slated to make his third start of the season and the first of his career against the Angels on Saturday.
Los Angeles is scheduled to start right-hander Jack Kochanowicz (2-1, 3.05 ERA), who is 0-0 with a 3.71 ERA in three career starts against the Blue Jays. He allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings on April 21 at Anaheim in a game Toronto won 4-2.
The Blue Jays continued to struggle at the plate on Friday, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Both of their runs came in the third inning against Angels starter Reid Detmers, who allowed a career-high six walks in 3 2/3 innings.
Kazuma Okamoto singled in the first run to give him a team-leading 24 RBIs. Okamoto also made a good play on Mike Trout’s smash to third to start a double play in the fourth.
The Angels’ catching depth is being tested: Travis d’Arnaud was put on the injured list with plantar fasciitis in his right foot after he was injured running out a grounder on Wednesday, and Logan O’Hoppe has been out with a fractured left hand but could be close to returning.
“Getting better by the day,” O’Hoppe said before Friday’s game.
It has not been determined whether he will need a minor-league rehabilitation assignment.
“It’s day-to-day,” he said. “I don’t know. Some days it’s worse than others. So far, it’s progressively gotten better by the day, so I’m not completely sure yet.”
The Angels promoted Omar Martinez from Triple-A Salt Lake to join Sebastian Rivero in the current catching tandem. Martinez, who was in the New York Yankees’ organization, was signed to a minor-league deal in the offseason.
“It’s definitely not ideal to have both of your catchers that you started the season with on the IL,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “But at the same time, it is what it is. You got to figure out a way. Luckily, we’ve got two guys that can really catch, and it’s our job as coaches to help guide them and help them be the best they can be.”
Martinez entered the game behind the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning on Friday.
For Toronto, right fielder Addison Barger is expected to rejoin the team on Saturday. He has been out since suffering a sprained ankle on April 5. It wasn’t clear who would be removed from the roster to make room for him.
Barger has completed a rehabilitation stint.
“He played a few games in a row, just give him a day to kind of recoup and travel, and then assuming that he travels fine, he should be ready to go (Saturday),” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “The extra day was kind of all right, when he gets here, I’m not going to run him out there every single day, but we can get him going pretty good.”
–Field Level Media
