Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images Royals (17-13) vs Blue Jays (15-15) The Blue Jays and Royals continue their series this evening, playing the second of this three game set at the Rogers Centre. First pitch tonight is once again set for 7:07 ET. Blue Jays’ Starter José Berríos will look for retribution against these same Royals, as a rain soaked and shortened outing resulted in his first loss of the season. Despite the horrible conditions to pitch in, Berríos did alright last week. He allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, although he did fight through 3 walks while striking out just 1. The 2 runs came on ..read more

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports Royals 5 Jays 6 When I said I didn’t like the Justin Turner signing, that was clearly a typo; what I meant was I didn’t like Justin Turner’s singing. He had a tremendous day: 2 home runs and 3 RBI. He hit a two-run homer in the first, erasing the Royals’ early 2-0 lead. And then he homered in the third, giving us a 3-2 lead. And Danny Jansen hit his second home run of the season (what better time to do it than the Jansen giveaway day) later in the inning, making it 4-2 Jays. We got another run in the fifth. Daulton Varsho led off with a double, and Davis Schneider ..read more

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports Nice to get a win yesterday. And it's nice to see Alejandro Kirk have a big day at the plate. It is Danny Jansen giveaway day (which doesn’t mean the team is going to trade him for nothing); they are giving the first 15,000 fans a Jansen Jersey and glasses. Today, we have Yariel Rodriguez (0-1, 3.86 ERA, in 11.2 innings, he’s allowed 13 hits and 5 walks with 15 strikeouts) starting for the Jays. Jonathan Bowlan (0-1. in 2 games, 1 start, 3 innings, 5 hits, 0 walks and 3 strikeouts) starts for the Jays. We get Addison Barger at third base today, Schneider in ..read more

Jeff Griffith-USA TODAY Sports And other bits. Fourteen Years Ago Today John Buck hit three home runs against the A’s. The Blue Jays won 6-3. Buck drove in 5 of the 6 runs. From the recap: Jon Lott told us that Cito spent time with Buck during batting practice, making suggestions. That’s Cito at his best, one on one with a player. I don’t even know if it’s technique. I think it is as likely the calming presence that Cito has and just the feeling you would get that he believed you could do it so you don’t want to let him down. I get the feeling if he told me I could hit I would do it. Well may ..read more

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports That was a significant improvement. The offence managed only three runs on eight hits and one walk, which remains a significant concern. But the pitching, lead by a terrific Kevin Gausman, was able to shut down and excellent Dodgers lineup. The five game losing streak has been pretty bleak, so avoiding the sweep feels like a significant victory. Hopefully it’s something they can build on. Kevin Gausman didn’t have his best stuff today, topping out at 96mph and recording just five strikeouts, but he was painting the corners, scattering three hits through the ..read more

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports It would be nice to win this series. Kevin Gausman gets the start. His last couple of starts have been good. Maybe we could get a few runs for him against the lefty Ryan Yarbrough who is making his first start of the season. He’s averaged 3 innings in his relief appearances and has a 3.52 ERA. In 23 innings, he’s allowed just 13 hits, 5 walks, 3 home runs, with just 10 strikeouts. Well, Yarbrough is listed as a starter here, and Michael Grove is listed on MLB.com.Grove has pitched in 9 games, has a 6.00 ERA. In 15 innings he allowed 14 hits, 6 walks (4 hit b ..read more

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports Blue Jays 2 Dodgers 4 Yusei Kikuchi wasn’t bad, pitching against a tough lineup. He went 6 innings, allowed 9 hits, 4 earned, no walks with 3 strikeouts. He gave up a couple of doubles and a Mookie Betts triple. Shohei Ohtani hit a 119.2 mph single of him (it was a pretty decent pitch), not to mention a 108.7 mph ground out. Kikuchi was hurt by a bad diving attempt at a catch by Daulton Varsho, turning what should have been a single into Mookie Betts’ triple to start the game. Betts would end up scoring. Génesis Cabrera (two outs), Yimi García (four outs), J ..read more

Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images There isn’t much good to say about yesterday’s game, so let’s not talk about it. The Dodgers will embarrass many pitchers, but our hitters could have put up a fight. They tried to sell us on the idea that Mattingly, as offensive coordinator, would change things, but if he has, it is for the worse. The top three must start hitting, or it will be a long season. I figured there would be a roster move to bring a fresh arm up for the pen, but I’m writing this a couple of hours before game time, so maybe there will be one. It would be nice to have a true long man t ..read more

R.J. Johnston/Toronto Star via Getty Images At least this one was over quickly. The Dodgers pummelled the Blue Jays’ pitching staff throughout, and the Jays’ offence never really threatened to make it a shootout. The losing streak now extends to four and Toronto find themselves back below .500 on the season. It was not Chris Bassitt’s night. Shohei Ohtani opened the scoring with a solo homer in the first (Hey, that guy’s good, the Jays should try to sign him). He worked around a couple of singles in the second but imploded abruptly and totally in the third. The first five Dodgers all reached ..read more

Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports It’s been a quiet day in baseball. Just a couple of smaller notes: The Orioles are optioning #1 overall prospect Jackson Holliday. Holliday tore up AAA to start the season with a 1.077 OPS before his call-up, but has hit just .059 while posting a 50% strikeout rate in 10 big league games. I’m sure this is the end for him, and he won’t be back soon to spend the next decade terrorizing the Jays. Nope, that’s a wrap. Yet more pitcher injuries around the league, as Wade Miley needs Tommy John and Jesus Luzardo goes on the IL with forearm tightness that I’m sure the ..read more