The Toronto Blue Jays visit Paul Molitor and the Minnesota Twins to wrap up the month of May. The 1993 World Series MVP has skippered the Twins to a first-place tie with the Kansas City Royals in the AL Central with identical 28-18 records, 1-1/2 games ahead of Detroit. The Twins are coming off a sweep of the Boston Red Sox at Target Field and have won five in a row after taking the last two games of their series against the Chicago White Sox in the Windy City.
The Blue Jays are hoping for their first winning road trip of the season since beginning the year with a 4-2 record in New York and Baltimore during the season's opening week. They'll be hard-pressed to get it as they have the NL East-leading Washington Nationals to deal with after this three-game set against Minnesota. The Jays completed a 5-5 homestand by taking two of three against the White Sox. That leaves them with a record of 22-27 but are just 3-1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East.
Series Schedule / Probable Starters
Friday at 8:10 pm ET — Mark Buehrle (5-4, 5.13) vs Trevor May (3-3, 4.95)
Saturday at 2:10 pm ET — Aaron Sanchez (4-4, 3.98) vs Kyle Gibson (4-3, 2.72)
Sunday at 2:10 pm ET — Drew Hutchison (4-1, 5.12) vs. Ricky Nolasco (5-1, 5.12)
In roster moves, the Blue Jays have called up Bo "The Hammer" Schultz from Triple-A Buffalo. Scott Copeland was sent back down to the Bisons. Schultz will wear 47, Merkin Valdez's old digits.
Famous Schultzes
Dave Schultz
Dwight Schultz
Of note, Chris Colabello faces his former team for the first time. He is on an eight-game hitting streak, which is just less than half of that of Josh Donaldson's 17 gamer. The Jays are 12-5 against the Twins at Target Field but lost two of three there last season after dropping a doubleheader. Jose Bautista — who may return to the outfield at some point during this road trip — has hit 11 home runs in 14 games at Bullseye's Ballpark while Edwin Encarnacion has six.
Looking ahead, the Jays are off to Washington next week before returning home a week from Friday for a six-game homestand against Houston and Miami.
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