Aaron Sanchez will likely have friends and family in the stands when the Toronto Blue Jays open a four-game series at the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.
Sanchez will also have plenty of motivation to keep the Blue Jays rolling.
Sanchez (3-5, 4.35 ERA) was a supplemental first-round draft pick of the Blue Jays out of Barstow (Calif.) High School in 2010. The Angels had three picks before Sanchez was chosen, and the organization had twice drafted Sanchez’s stepfather, Mike Shipley, in the 1970s, but they opted to take infielder Kaleb Cowart with the 18th overall pick, reliever Cam Bedrosian at No. 29 and outfielder Chevy Clarke at No. 30.
Four picks later, the Blue Jays nabbed Sanchez.
Cowart continues to struggle to break into the majors with the Angels, Bedrosian hasn’t performed up to expectations either, and Clark is currently playing independent ball for the Cleburne Railroaders.
Sanchez, meanwhile, made his major league debut in July 2014, was chosen to the American League All Star team while going 15-2 in 2016, and his 3.00 ERA that season led the AL.
Sanchez has faced the Angels (39-35) three times in his career, but his only two starts came in Toronto (34-29). He’s 0-1 overall against Los Angeles with a 2.03 ERA. He threw one inning of scoreless relief at Angel Stadium in 2015.
Sanchez is 1-0 with a 2.95 ERA in three starts this month after going 0-3 with a 5.96 ERA in May.
“It’s been a battle the first couple months http://www.panthersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dj-moore-jersey , trying to get back into the swing of things,” Sanchez told reporters after his last start, when he allowed three runs and six hits in six innings of a 6-5 win against the Washington Nationals. “As of late, it’s been trending up.”
That can also be said of the Blue Jays, who have won four of five following their 5-4 win against the visiting Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, improving to 28-1 this season when scoring five or more runs.
The Angels had an off day at home on Wednesday after holding on the defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Tuesday night to earn a split of the two-game series.
They plan to send Tyler Skaggs to the mound for the series opener. Like Sanchez, he’s undefeated this month after going winless in May. Skaggs has won all three starts in June, allowing one earned run in 20 innings for a 0.45 ERA.
He went 0-2 in May with a 4.28 ERA and had a sub-par outing in Toronto on May 23, allowing three runs and six hits in five innings. He avoided taking the loss when the Angels scored four runs in the ninth inning of the 5-4 win.
This might be his best stretch since undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2014.
“With Tyler, we’ve seen a constant growth in confidence,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia told the Los Angeles Times. “This guy’s worked so hard to get back to where he was and even a little above that now.”
Skaggs (6-4, 2.81) is 2-2 overall in his six-year career against the Blue Jays with a 4.11 ERA.
Red-hot Mike Trout will appear in his 1,000th career game for Los Angeles. He is 16-for-23 with four homers and nine RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak.
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Giants left-hander Andrew Suarez will seek to reverse a trend of pitching in bad luck when the faces the San Diego Padres on Saturday afternoon on the third day of a four-game series.
Facing the Miami Marlins on both occasions, Suarez was pulled in the sixth and seventh innings of his last two starts, both times having held the opponent to two runs and both times exiting with a lead.
But the Marlins rallied against the Giants’ bullpen each time, pulling out a 5-4 win in both games.
The rookie has allowed three earned runs or fewer six times this season, yet has only two wins to show for it.
One of those six games occurred the only time he faced the Padres.
Lo and behold, he pitched seven innings in that May 1 game, allowing two runs, and left a 2-2 tie. The Giants went on to lose 3-2.
He’s 0-0 with a 2.57 ERA against the Padres.
Suarez can expect to see a bit of a different look from San Diego on Saturday, as Padres manager Andy Green indicated Friday that he’s strongly considering moving Manuel Margot back to the leadoff spot against the left-hander.
Green put Wil Myers atop his lineup card Thursday night against another lefty, Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, and it did not go well. Myers went hitless and the Padres got shut out 3-0.
Batting seventh against a right-hander on Friday night, Margot had two hits and two RBIs in San Diego’s 6-2 win.
He has raised his average to .245 after having spent much of the first two months below .200. He batted leadoff 15 times in that early stretch.
“He’s settled in so comfortably in that seven spot, I haven’t wanted to make an adjustment with him,” said Green, noting he came close to penciling him back into the leadoff spot Thursday. “It’s been such a push for us to get him going that once he’s gotten going http://www.panthersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-rashaan-gaulden-jersey , it has seemed prudent to leave him alone down there in the seven hole.
“I do think sometime in the near future you’re going to see him back toward the top, against left-handed pitching especially.”
Margot, the club’s leadoff hitter on Opening Day, hit just .156 atop the lineup before getting demoted in May. He has hit .333 while batting seventh.
Another decision Green will have to make Saturday is what to do with third baseman Cory Spangenberg, who contributed two hits and two runs to Friday’s win.
Spangenberg has hit safely in a personal-best 11 straight starts but hasn’t been starting lately against left-handed pitchers, against whom he is batting just .143 this season.
The Padres will send right-hander Jordan Lyles (2-4, 4.46) to the mound hoping he can snap a three-game skid, during which he has allowed 13 runs in 17 1/3 innings.
Lyles pitched three times out of the bullpen in earlier meetings with the Giants, limiting them to one hit and no runs in 4 2/3 innings.
That was quite a contrast to the last time he started against San Francisco, which was in an 8-0 loss in September. He gave up seven runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Lyles has faced the Giants 17 times in his career, seven times as a starter, going 3-3 with a 6.11 ERA.
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Thema drucken
18.01.2019 03:10
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