Athletics at Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays have been waiting for Troy Tulowitzki to break out of a slump and join the trio of sluggers in front of him in a fearsome lineup. Tulowitzki did just that on Saturday and will try to lead the Blue Jays to a series win when they host the Oakland Athletics in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday.
Tulowitzki was batting .150 and managed one extra-base hit in seven games prior to taking the series opener off on Friday to rest a sore hip. The former All-Star looked refreshed in his return on Saturday, when he went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs in the 9-3 victory. Josh Donaldson added a three-run blast against his former team as the Blue Jays snapped a three-game slide and ended Oakland’s six-game winning streak. The Athletics had allowed an average of 2.4 runs during the first five games of the winning streak but have surrendered 14 runs in two games against the Blue Jays.
TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, CSN California (Oakland), Sportsnet (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics LH Eric Surkamp (0-1, 3.68 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Drew Hutchison (2015: 13-5, 5.57)
Surkamp is getting his first chance to stick as a major league starter and has yet to complete six innings in any of his first three turns. The 28-year-old is pitching for his fourth organization in the majors and went a season-high 5 2/3 innings at New York on Tuesday, allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks without factoring in the decision. Surkamp has made six career appearances against Toronto – all in relief – and yielded a total of one run and two hits in 4 1/3 innings.
The Blue Jays are attempting to manage the workloads of young starters Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman and will call up Hutchison to make a spot start on Sunday in order to give the two each an extra day of rest. Hutchison was Toronto’s opening day starter in 2015 but eventually lost his place in the rotation and failed to win it back in spring training. The 25-year-old is 0-1 with a 4.11 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 15 1/3 total innings for Triple-A Buffalo this season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Blue Jays OF Michael Saunders (hamstring) sat out the first two games of the series and is day-to-day.
2. Oakland 1B Mark Canha homered in each of his last two games and drove in a run in three straight.
3. Toronto LHP Chad Girodo, who took the roster spot of suspended 1B Chris Colabello, will be sent back to Triple-A to clear a spot for Hutchison.