| M. Maroth (1-0, 7.20) | vs. | T. Okha (0-0, 10.38) |
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Tomo Okha is on the hill tonight against the Tigers in the first game of their big four-game series. Both teams are currently 5-3. The Blue Jays split the opening series of the year against the Tigers 1-1, and since then have feasted on cellar-dwellers the Devil Rays and Royals. Now they must once again prove themselves in an early season match-up against the defending AL champs.
Ohka vs. the Tigers: In his first outing of the season Okha got shelled, giving up six hits, five runs, and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. The Jays went on to beat the Rays 8-5, but Okha is going to have to do better against the Tigers, because the Tigers pitching (particularly their bullpen) can keep the Jays from scoring too many runs.
Keys to the game for the Jays: Mike Maroth struggled with the Royals lineup in his first start since May 25th of last year (he had arthroscopic surgery on his elbow). He was tagged for 4 runs, 6 hits and a walk in 5 innings, but still came out with the win 6-5. He won't pitch very deep into the game as he is still building up stamina, but the Jays have to tag him as much as possible; they do not want to try to play catch up on the Tigers' bullpen, one of the strongest in baseball.
Trends:
- Aaron Hill was fired up yesterday after hitting a two-run double in the 7th. The Royals made the mistake of intentional walking Alex Rios to get to him. Aaron on that: "Yeah, I didn't like that." Wow, take it easy man. No fighting! No fighting!
- Um, hopefully the attendence at Rogers Centre will be better today than it was yesterday. I mean, yeah, the Royals suck, and yes, it's hockey playoff time (4 OTs! Wow, and still no one south of the border cares), but it was way too quiet yesterday. According to the Toronto Star: "The result was a strangely intimate atmosphere. The players could clearly be heard calling for the ball. The same went for heckling fans." I've had softball games that were more rawkus than that! Where you at, Canada?
- The Tigers offense (offence?) is struggling, but they still managed to put up 11 runs against the Orioles yesterday. Despite cleanup hitter Magglio Ordonez's two hits yesterday, his average is still only .233. That's still twice as high as the struggling Gary Sheffield (.103). Here's hoping they don't get hot off Tomo Okha.
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I'm pretty sure it's still spelled offense, but pronounced Ohhhhhh-fence.
Do baseball players wear sweaters up north?
I'm going to call my Canadian transplant friend for clarification on these points. People need to know, eh.