Blue Jays at Indians
The Cleveland Indians will try to bounce back after dropping three of four to American League Central Division rival Detroit when they begin a three-game series with the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. The Indians lost 4-2 in 10 innings to the Tigers on Monday to fall 3 1/2 games behind the Tigers after leading the division by one-half game July 2. Cleveland will give the ball to Ubaldo Jimenez, who has battled command problems while not reaching six innings in five straight starts but is 2-0 during that span.
An 11-game winning streak brought the Blue Jays to within five games of first place in the American League East on June 23, but they have dropped nine of their last 14 contests to fall 9 1/2 games behind first-place Boston. “We’ve got to play better than we did in the first half, but I expect us to stay in this thing,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. Josh Johnson, who is 1-2 in six outings since missing seven starts because of triceps inflammation, gets the start for Toronto.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SNET (Toronto), Sports Time Ohio (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Josh Johnson (1-3, 4.89 ERA) vs. Indians RH Ubaldo Jimenez (6-4, 4.67)
Johnson allowed six runs (one earned), seven hits and made two errors in five innings of a 6-2 loss to Detroit on Wednesday. The 29-year-old, who many thought could be the ace of the Blue Jays' staff after coming over in a blockbuster trade with Miami during the offseason, has yielded 66 hits in 53 1/3 innings with a high WHIP of 1.61 - well over his career number of 1.25. The Indians' roster is hitting .170 against Johnson with Mark Reynolds 1-for-9 (home run, eight strikeouts).
Jimenez, who has the highest walk rate among qualified American League starters (4.97 per nine innings), has issued nine in his last two outings covering 10 innings. The 29-year-old, who has 49 walks and 88 strikeouts in 88 2/3 innings, is 1-1 with a 5.91 ERA while walking 14 in 21 1/3 frames over four starts against Toronto. Jimenez began his season by allowing one run, three hits and two walks while striking out six in six innings in a 3-2 victory at Toronto on April 3.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cleveland took two of three at Toronto in the season-opening series.
2. The Indians fell to 5-1 in extra-inning games following Monday's loss.
3. Toronto's bullpen has the lowest ERA in the American League at 2.93.