Indians at Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays salvaged a 3-3 road trip with back-to-back wins at Colorado and seem to be pulling out of their funk just in time to face the hottest team in baseball. The Cleveland Indians will be looking for their 13th consecutive victory when they visit the Blue Jays in the opener of a four-game series on Thursday.
Toronto is just 4-6 over its last 10 games and will get a chance to test itself at home with an 11-game homestand against the top three teams in the American League Central leading into the All-Star break. The Blue Jays look good when the pitching can keep pace with the offense, and Aaron Sanchez’s solid start in a 5-3 win on Wednesday was a step forward for a staff that surrendered a total of 31 runs in the previous four contests. The Indians improved to 6-0 on their 10-game road trip with a 3-0 win at Atlanta on Wednesday and are outscoring opponents 76-25 during a winning streak that marks the franchise’s longest since a 13-game run in 1951. Lonnie Chisenhall is leading the offense of late and is 9-for-17 with three home runs and seven RBIs in the last four games
TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), Sportsnet (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Carlos Carrasco (3-2, 2.73 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH R.A. Dickey (5-8, 4.23)
Carrasco is coming in hot after tossing a four-hit shutout at Detroit on Saturday. The Venezuela native posted a quality start in each of his last three turns and has 21 strikeouts and six walks in that span. Carrasco owns an 8.62 ERA in four games – three starts – against Toronto in his career but has dominated on the road with a 1.95 ERA this season.
Dickey suffered a pair of losses despite quality starts on June 13 and 18, but his offense made up for the lack of support in those efforts by bailing him out on Saturday. The veteran knuckleballer allowed four earned runs on six hits – four home runs – in 5 1/3 innings at the Chicago White Sox last Saturday before coming away with a win in the 10-8 triumph. Dickey started at home against Cleveland on Sept. 2 last season and allowed one run in a complete-game win.
WALK-OFFS
1. Blue Jays 3B Josh Donaldson is 14-for-31 during an eight-game hitting streak.
2. Cleveland is 21-6 in June and can tie the franchise record for wins in a calendar month (22-7 in June 1965) with a victory on Thursday.
3. Toronto DH Edwin Encarnacion is 8-for-17 with two home runs, eight runs scored and eight RBIs in the last five contests.