FRANCISCO LORIANO, LHP, 0-1, 9.00 ERA, 11K
Loriano displayed some improved command during his last start
by throwing first-pitch strikes to 18 of his 26 batters. That was his
highest percentage since the start of 2015 and comes after an
outing when he threw just 13 of 25 pitches for strikes.
Porcello looks to get back on track vs. Jays
Keegan Matherson
With Toronto's slow start already placing a heightened importance on American League East play, the Blue Jays will send Francisco Liriano to the mound on Wednesday to face the Red Sox and 2016 American League Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello in Game 2 of the series.
This season hasn't been as kind to Porcello, though. The right-hander's ERA jumped to 7.56 after his start against the Rays on Friday, when he allowed eight runs, including four home runs, over 4 1/3 innings. Porcello's fly-ball rate has been above his career averages early this season, and manager John Farrell believes the key to turning that around will be re-establishing his sinker down in the zone.
"That's the pitch that really allows everything else to work off of," Farrell said. "The other night, he certainly missed location. He had a tendency to overthrow his fastball at times, which can lead to some sacrifice of command and location. That was the case the other night. He just has to get back to that signature pitch, and that's that sinker in the bottom of the zone."
Liriano is trending in the opposite direction, as he shook off an ugly first outing to strike out 10 batters on Thursday against Baltimore. By leaning more heavily on a combination of his slider and changeup, Liriano was able to avoid the control issues that saw him record just a single out in his first start.
"With the fastball, sometimes he likes to overpower it," said catcher Russell Martin after his last outing. "The slider is the pitch that kind of gets him back in that groove, and he was spot on with it, back door to a lot of the righties today."
THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS TEAM
• Beyond Toronto's offensive struggles, there is also some poor luck at play. Based on the Blue Jays' exit velocities and launch angles, the hit probability metric shows that their expected weighted on-base average (wOBA) is .330 instead of their actual mark of .266. That is the widest margin of any MLB team so far.
"That's still a very dangerous lineup," Farrell said of the Blue Jays, "and watching games and watching video prior to this series opening up, they've had pitchers that have gone against them and executed extremely well. We're going to need to do the same."
• Boston and Toronto have had vastly different starts at the plate, with the Red Sox leading the league hitting .287 entering play on Tuesday. Toronto ranked 27th with a .212 team average, but both teams have experienced an early power outage this season. Coming into this series, the Blue Jays and Red Sox had the fewest home runs in baseball with seven and six, respectively.
• Only once last season did Porcello give up six hits with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph in a single start. He now has done it in two consecutive rough outings, also averaging an exit velocity higher than 91 mph in both games.
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