August 1 7:05pm, August 2 7:05pm, August 3 6:05pm, August 4 12:35pm
Both of these teams are coming into this series way below where they should be. The Angels added Josh HamiltonandJoe Blanton while the Jays added Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, and Mark Buehrle to the mix once Miami's SatanMarlins owner performed a fire sale. More than twenty-four million dollars separate these two in salaries; however, just one-and-a-half games are between them in the American League Wild Card.
Pitching matchups over the course of this four game set are all over the place. The once great Josh Johnson is now all beat up. He has just one win this season. Toronto's other offseason acquisition faces the Halos on Sunday when Mark Buehrle tries to continue his success against fellow lefty C.J. Wilson. Buehrle is coming off of two dominant starts in which he shutout the Houston Astros (CG) and the Oakland Athletics (7 IP). As for C.J., he was tossed around against the Texas Rangers, despite having solid starts before that. Jered Weaver also gets a start in this series, coming off a another strong game.
Edwin Encarnacion, Colby Rasmus (brother of Halos RHP, Cory Rasmus), and Jose Bautista lead the way for the Jays' offense. The most surprising of that bunch is Rasmus who has finally been able to produce what he never did for the Cardinals. Encarnacion and Bautista continue they're 'swing-for-the-fences' mentality and combine for fifty-four home runs. Unlike them, Josh Hamilton sits with fifteen at the beginning of August. Yes, fifteen.
Despite all of this offense, the Blue Jays are in the same place as the Angels: they both sit way out of their divisions and are on the outside of the AL WC race. If one sweeps the other, and with some help from other losses, they could be just over six games out. Yes, I know that was very far-fetched.
Probable SPs -- Josh Johnson / Garrett Richards, Todd Redman / Tommy Hanson, Esmil Rogers / Jered Weaver, Mark Buehrle / C.J. Wilson
TV Schedule: All games can be seen seen on FOX Sports West and, for you Canadians, Sportsnet. Unfortunately, there are no nationally televised games this week.