Joe "Hardy" Kennedy, whose agent must be named Applegate, has never lost to Toronto. The young man is suffering from a sore back and a crisis of confidence -- four hits, three walks and five earned runs in just one inning last time out, along with hints that this is his last chance to avoid demotion -- so it will be interesting to see how he can continue his miraculous success facing a team that always finds a way to make him look good. Kennedy is 3-8, 6.48 this year with an opponent's average of .321; without his 2-0, 3.86, .221 in two previous starts against the Jays, those numbers are truly horrible. The exorcism of this demon is long overdue.
No stranger to the "stopper" role, Roy Halladay goes for his 16th win. I'm reluctant to mention this, given the bizarre events between the teams in 2003, but Doc is just 1-1, 4.58 in five career starts vs. the Rays, who sport a .320 average against him. However, that's ancient history; he was 1-0 in two starts last year, and they haven't seen him at all this season.
The Jays need to get back to .500 today and do some damage against Texas this weekend; they sure don't want to begin 14 straight against the M's and A's with the wheels falling off. As you might expect, Berg starts at 2B for one-sided switch-hitter Hudson; Hinske, who's hit Kennedy well in the past, must ignore his motormouth antagonist again.
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