Be good to get this one. Right here, right now.
The Gates of Mercy shall be all shut up,
And the flesh'd Souldier, rough and hard of heart,
In libertie of bloody hand, shall raunge
With Conscience wide as Hell, mowing like Grass
Your fresh faire Virgins, and your flowring Infants.
We all recollect that in last year's ALDS, after losing the first two games at home, the Jays came roaring back with two wins on the road to tie the series and send it to a memorable fifth game. That was an extremely unusual turn of events, but everyone on these two teams is certainly aware of it.
The Jays send their best starter to the hill today, league ERA leader Aaron Sanchez, while the Rangers turn to veteran Colby Lewis. Lewis is 37 years old now, and his fastball barely touches 90 mph these days. He's about as overpowering on the mound as... oh, Marco Estrada. Lewis spent more than two months on the DL this summer, and was not impressive upon returning in September (0-4, 6.38). But he was having himself a nice season before getting hurt, he did win 17 games a year ago, and he's acquitted himself very well indeed in the post-season (4-1, 2.38 in 9 appearances, 8 starts.)
Francisco Liriano is on the 7-day concussion DL, replaced by Danny Barnes on the roster. Devon Travis is day-to-day, which means the team has no backup infielder in the event anything weird happens.
The state of the Toronto bullpen scares the crap out of me at this point. Roberto Osuna and Jason Grilli have been pushed harder than you'd like to push a 21 year old with an occasional tender shoulder and a 39 year old with a lot of miles on him. But while Joe Biagini has been a delightful surprise, this is still his first year above AA and Brett Cecil has folded up like a cheap suit in close games all year long, After those guys come the likes of Loup and Tepera and Feldman and Barnes....
O, that way madness lies.
Let me shun that. No more of that.
No beer in cans at the ballpark today. They'll be pouring it into plastic cups to serve the thirsty multitudes. Good news I say, especially as this is Rough Ned's first game in Toronto since last May's sucker punch. Be nice if it's his last one here for a while.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=2016100912460156