I think Jays fans might be stuck with Cory Lidle. It's hard to imagine J.P. Ricciardi can get anything worthwhile in return, the way he's been pitching lately. A snazzy 10.80 ERA in July (and an opponents' average of .390 for the month) will hardly inspire some rival GM to pin his pennant hopes on a trade. Even worse are Lidle's numbers this year against the Orioles. In two starts, he's lasted a total of eight innings, allowing 18 hits -- that's a .419 clip -- and 13 earned runs (14.63 ERA). He should intentionally walk Jeff Conine every time up to minimize the damage; in 16 career AB, Conine has 11 hits, including 3 HR, and an OPS of 2.000! Melvin Mora and Tony Batista have also owned Lidle, so this may not be pretty. Or, with scouts in the stands, he may suddenly find his missing command and confidence. Not very likely, but we can hope.
The Jays have done all right over the years against Jason Johnson, who beat them for the first time ever on July 3, to improve to 1-7, 7.09 for his career against Toronto. The righty's been pretty good in his last two starts, however. Maybe Carlos Delgado can recapture his home run stroke, absent for 16 games. He's gone deep twice before off Johnson, and has a .447 OBP against him. Josh Phelps returns to action against a pitcher he's hit well (2 HR in 11 AB). Jayson Werth was sent back down to make room for the DH, and Dan Reichert was also farmed out, with Cliff Politte rejoining the club. Frank Catalanotto leads off in Carlos Tosca's latest innovative lineup, with Eric Hinske batting second. Reed Johnson and Chris Woodward get the night off. Bobby Kielty's in RF, batting sixth between Myers and Phelps.
A Baltimore win would put the O's just a game and a half behind the Jays in the standings, and these teams don't seem to like each other, so it should be an interesting series.
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