The Blue Jays lead the majors in interleague home runs, as they look to sweep the Giants in the series finale.
San Francisco Giants at Toronto Blue Jays
San Francisco will close out its first trip to Toronto since 2007, with the team hoping to find its bats in the process. The Giants have managed to score just two runs in the first two games of the series, wasting quality outings from their starters. Manager Bruce Bochy knows that his staff will still need to respect the power of today’s opponent saying, “They’ve done that all year, hit the long ball.” Saturday’s 3-0 loss dropped the club to 5-6 this year against the American League, losing all five games its played away from AT&T Park (5-1 home).
Giants Jonathan Sanchez is an even 5-5 with a 2.78 ERA in 13 starts this year (+20), surrendering just five home runs in 81 innings. He picked up a 10-2 home victory in his last start against the Baltimore, allowing just two runs and eight hits over 7.2 innings. “I was pretty comfortable out there. When you get a couple of runs, you can just go out there and relax,” Sanchez said. The talented left-hander has posted a losing 1-3 mark and 3.29 ERA on the road this season (-210) despite allowing opponents to hit just .216 against him. It’s an improvement over his career numbers away from AT&T Park, which is a 13-22 record and 4.72 ERA.
Toronto used a blast from Aaron Hill in capturing the second game of a three-game set against the Giants. “I just didn’t want to hit another popup,” Hill said. The Blue Jays lead interleague play with 17 home runs, which has helped the team to hold onto its MLB-lead with 105 long balls this season. The club has three players in the top 10 among the AL home run leaders with Jose Bautista (18), Vernon Wells (16) and Alex Gonzalez (13). Toronto is 19-14 overall at the Rogers Centre (+560), but has the highest winning percentage at home since April 29 (15-5, .750).
Blue Jays SP Shaun Marcum is 6-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 14 starts this season (+190), while being just 59 innings away from matching his 2009 total. The right-hander has been troubled by the long ball over his last two starts, including two given up at pitcher-friendly Petco Park. Marcum makes his first home start since June 2, as he’s 3-2 with a 2.59 ERA in seven starts at the Rogers Centre (-120). He is a perfect 4-0 with a 2.58 ERA in seven daytime outings, picking up 40 strikeouts and walking just 11 in 45.1 innings.
Bettors may want to focus on the fact that the last two games for the Giants have been the only two of its kind the past three years on artificial turf (0-2, -260). The team is 62-58 (+420) on the fake stuff since interleague play started in 1997. Toronto currently stands at 5-6 against the National League this season (-50), which is familiar to a team that has dropped back-to-back seasons series against the Junior Circuit (13-21).
