Blue Jays Gameday (May 8): Toronto hosts Angels looking to snap four-game losing streak

The Toronto Blue Jays are set to return home to the Rogers Centre after a road trip that saw them go 2-5, including being swept by American League East division foe, the Tampa Bay Rays. 

The sweep in St. Petersburg put a stamp on the Blue Jays’ first series loss since mid-April, when they lost two of the three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Entering Friday night’s contest, through 37 games, the Blue Jays find themselves with a record of 16-21, good for fourth place in the A.L. East, 9.5 games back of the New York Yankees.

Currently riding a four-game losing streak, the Blue Jays hope that Thursday’s off-day allowed the club to reset before kicking off a six-game homestand against the Los Angeles Angels and Rays. 

The Blue Jays and Angels will wrap up their season slate this week, as the two clubs previously met back in Anaheim, with the Blue Jays taking 2-of-3 from the Halos. The Blue Jays won the first two games of the series before the Angels claimed the finale 7-3, ending a Blue Jays road trip that saw them go 4-5. 

Reid Detmers is set to start for the 15-23 Angels on Friday. Through seven starts this year, the left-hander is 1-2 with a 4.28 ERA and 1.15 WHIP over 40 innings pitched. After being a full-time reliever last season, the Angels moved Detmers back to the rotation, resulting in Detmers’ strikeout rate dropping from a career-high mark of 30.1% last year to 26.2% to this point in the regular season. 

Starting for the Blue Jays is right-hander Dylan Cease. Through Cease’s first seven starts in a Blue Jays uniform, he is 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. The 30-year-old is coming off his longest start of the season against the Minnesota Twins, where Cease completed seven innings, allowing three earned runs, and picked up the win. Cease has struck out 56 batters over his 38 1/3  innings, the fourth most in MLB. 

These two starting pitchers squared off on April 20, with Cease picking up his first win in a Blue Jays uniform, while Detmers took the loss. Cease struck out 12 Angels across five innings, requiring 110 pitches to get through those frames. The Blue Jays were able to score four times against Detmers in his outing, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr. blasting his second home run of the season.

With Kazuma Okamoto’s recent power surge, batting him behind Guerrero in the lineup hopefully allows the Blue Jays’ first baseman to get better offerings, as opposing pitchers don’t want to put someone on for Okamoto, who leads the team with 10 home runs. 

Guerrero is coming off a road trip where he struggled mightily. The 27-year-old batted .154 with no extra-base hits and only one run driven in. Guerrero’s .319 average still leads the club, but if this Blue Jays team is going to get hot, they need their star slugger to lead the way. 

Here’s how the two lineups look for the opening game of the three-game set.

Location: Toronto, Ontario

First Pitch: 7:07 PM ET

Watch/Listen: Sportsnet One, SN590

Starting Pitchers

Toronto Blue Jays – Dylan Cease: 2-1 record, 3.05 ERA, 38.1 IP, 56 SO, 18 BB

Los Angeles Angels – Reid Detmers: 1-2 record, 4.28 ERA, 40 IP, 44 SO, 9 BB

Lineups:

Blue Jays:

1. George Springer – DH
2. Myles Straw – RF
3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 1B
4. Kazuma Okamoto – 3B
5. Daulton Varsho – CF
6. Ernie Clement – 2B
7. Davis Schneider – LF
8. Andrés Giménez – SS
9. Brandon Valenzuela – C

Angels:

1. Zach Neto – SS
2. Mike Trout – CF
3. Nolan Schanuel – 1B
4. Jorge Soler – DH
5. Yoán Moncada – 3B
6. Jo Adell – RF
7. Josh Lowe – LF
8. Sebastián Rivero – C
9. Adam Frazier – 2B