Angels at Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays' offense is clicking, but their hitters will face a stern test Friday. The streaking Blue Jays open a four-game set against the visiting Los Angeles Angels, who will send undefeated right-hander Garrett Richards to the mound. Richards has tossed three straight quality starts and is coming off a career-high nine strikeouts in six innings his last time out.
Toronto enters this matchup having won five straight games, including all four of its home-and-home series with Philadelphia this week. The Blue Jays outscored the Phillies 31-11 during the four games and hit five home runs in Thursday's 12-6 triumph. Two of those homers came courtesy of Edwin Encarnacion, who has hit four home runs over his last three contests.
TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, Fox Sports West (Los Angeles), SNET-1 (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels RH Garrett Richards (3-0, 2.84 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Dustin McGowan (2-1, 4.80)
Richards gave up three runs in six innings against Texas on Saturday to get back in the win column following three straight no-decisions. He has appeared in five career games against the Angels, going 2-2 with a 5.12 ERA. One thing to keep an eye on with Richards is that he has walked multiple batters in every start this season, although he has limited the damage by yielding a total of one homer in 38 innings.
McGowan twirled a season-high seven innings, giving up one run and three hits in Sunday's 7-2 win against Pittsburgh. He is looking to improve upon his 2014 struggles at Rogers Centre (0-1, 13.50 ERA) compared to his 2-0 mark with a 2.31 ERA on the road. McGowan's career numbers against the Angels are strong - a 3.44 ERA and a .227 opponents' batting average - although he is just 1-4 lifetime against Los Angeles.
WALK-OFFS
1. Colby Rasmus, Jose Reyes, Brett Lawrie and Encarnacion are a combined 12-for-28 (.429) with two homers lifetime against Richards.
2. Los Angeles scored a total of nine runs while losing two of three to the Yankees this week. Standout OF Mike Trout managed only one hit against New York and is 2-for-20 this month.
3. The Angels have won seven of the last eight meetings.