Blue Jays at Indians
The Toronto Blue Jays hope to continue their strong start and begin the process of winning a fourth consecutive series when they visit the surging Cleveland Indians on Friday to open a three-game set. Toronto, which put itself in a big hole last season with nine losses in the first 10 games and a 6-17 record through April 28, has won eight of 11 since dropping the first two contests of 2018 while going 3-0-1 in series despite a 5-3 loss at Baltimore on Wednesday.
“I’ve been very impressed with how we’ve been able to fight to score runs late in games and how impressive our bullpen has been to keep us in games,” Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson told the Toronto Sun. “It’s been a good start and something we can build on.” Marcus Stroman will try to keep things going for Toronto when he takes the mound looking for his first win and the Indians counter with fellow right-hander Mike Clevinger on Friday. Cleveland has rebounded from a rough start to the season with five straight victories after completing a four-game sweep of Central Division-rival Detroit with a 9-3 triumph on Thursday night. Jose Ramirez, who began the season in a 2-for-33 slump after finishing third in the American League MVP voting in 2017, went 5-for-13 with a pair of homers in the last series for the Indians.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One (Toronto), SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Marcus Stroman (0-1, 8.38 ERA) vs. Indians RH Mike Clevinger (1-0, 0.71)
Stroman struggled in his first road game of 2018 last Saturday, allowing five runs on six hits and five walks over 4 2/3 innings at Texas to suffer his first loss after a uneven start in his season debut. The 26-year-old Duke product yielded four runs over five frames against the New York Yankees on April 1 in a no-decision and has issued eight walks overall. Michael Brantley is 2-for-3 with a double against Stroman, who is 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA in five lifetime appearances (four starts) versus the Indians.
Clevinger worked his way out of trouble last time out to give up just one run on 10 hits and two walks over 7 1/3 innings without getting a decision in the 3-1 victory over Kansas City. The 27-year-old Florida native won his first start of the campaign by limiting the Los Angeles Angels to four hits across 5 1/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and a pair of walks. Clevinger, who is 16-9 in his career, has faced the Blue Jays once in the regular season - allowing one hit in 1 1/3 innings to earn the win in 2016.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cleveland CF Bradley Zimmer had three hits in Thursday’s win and went 5-for-10 with a two-run homer in the series against Detroit.
2. Toronto INF Yangervis Solarte registered two hits in three of his last four games, going 6-for-14 during that stretch.
3. The Indians won 12 of 18 meetings over the last two seasons, including a four games-to-one triumph in the 2016 American League Championship series.