Fresh off a dramatic 10-inning victory largely thanks to an emergency Blue Jays catching situation after Alejandro Kirk injured his thumb, the White Sox take on a Toronto team with an emergency pitching situation that’s the result of originally-scheduled starter Eric Lauer recovering from a bout of flu (as apparently is the case for much of the team).
That sets up a game with not one, but two dueling openers. Well, OK, it’s a full bullpen game for the Jays, but on the White Sox side, Grant Taylor
had such an easy inning opening yesterday — just nine pitches, all strikes — that Will Venable is going to give him an encore.
This time Taylor will be opening for lefty Anthony Kay, who had a respectable start against the Brewers his first time out (4 1/3 innings, two earned runs, but with four walks), only to have the bullpen collapse. Kay has standard platoon splits and won’t face as many left-handed hitters with Toronto — but also won’t have to deal with Kirk at the plate.
First in the train of relievers throwing for the Jays will be lefty Mason Fluharty, who has never started an MLB game. He had a rough first outing to the regular season, but has had three very short successful appearances since. Fluharty et al. will face a White Sox lineup that includes Lenyn Sosa at DH and Reese McGuire catching:
The Blue Jays lineup is built for Kay, not Taylor, with six righties and one switch-hitter. Catcher Tyler Heineman, who had no chance to throw before the game resumed yesterday and proceeded to pick up a bunt and fling the ball into right field, will presumably be more settled today and has a strong career record against would-be thieves, throwing out 30.1%.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Central, with rain expected to end by noon, temps in the low 50s, and 18 mph wind toward left. Usual broadcast suspects.
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