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	<title>Toronto &#187; Arizona Diamondbacks</title>
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		<title>Recap: Blue Jays 10, Diamondbacks 4; Jays&#8217; Bats Dominate in Arizona</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/07/20/recap-blue-jays-10-diamondbacks-4-jays-bats-dominate-in-arizona/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2016 22:47:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Dika]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recaps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arizona Diamondbacks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=4720</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Blue Jays tagged Arizona players all afternoon long, scoring 10 times in a 10-4 rout of the D-Backs at Chase Field. The scoring started early, as the Jays took advantage of a struggling Patrick Corbin, tagging him for six runs in 5 2/3 innings of work. Josh Donaldson and Darwin Barney lead the charge, driving [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Blue Jays tagged Arizona players all afternoon long, scoring 10 times in a 10-4 rout of the D-Backs at Chase Field. The scoring started early, as the Jays took advantage of a struggling Patrick Corbin, tagging him for six runs in 5 2/3 innings of work. Josh Donaldson and Darwin Barney lead the charge, driving in three runs apiece, while Edwin Encarnacion hit his 26<sup>th</sup> home run of the season. Marcus Stroman turned in a strong start as he works to rebound from a difficult first half. Stroman pitched eight innings allowing one run on eights hits, seeing his ERA dip to under 5.00 for the season (4.90). While Brett Cecil would surrender a three-run homer in the ninth, the nine-run lead was more than enough cushion for the Blue Jays’ bullpen. The win gave the Jays a sweep of the two game miniseries and a 3-2 record on their five game west coast road trip.</p>
<h3>Top Play of the Game by WPA</h3>
<p>Josh Donaldson staked the Blue Jays to a 2-0 lead in the first inning that they would never relinquish, hitting a two-run homer run off of Patrick Corbin. Darwin Barney, who reached base when Jean Segura misplayed groundball to begin the game, came around to score on the Donaldson homer. The play increased the Blue Jays’ chances of winning the game by 12.8 percentage points.</p>
<h3>Bottom Play of the Game by WPA</h3>
<p>With one out and two on in the bottom of the third inning, Arizona cleanup hitter Jake Lamb came to the plate. Marcus Stroman was able to induce a double play groundball that not only killed the D-Back’s rally but decreased their chances of winning by a game low 10.4 percentage points.</p>
<h3>Barney Makes His Outfield Debut</h3>
<p>This afternoon marked Darwin Barney’s first start in the outfield as a professional baseball player. The Blue Jays were playing short-staffed with Ezequiel Carrera forced out of the lineup due to a flare up of his achilles injury, and Michael Saunders away from the team to tend to a personal matter. Barney was tested early, tracking a ball off the bat of Yasmany Tomas all the way to the left field wall in the bottom of the second inning. While neither Carrera’s injury or Saunders’ absence appear to be long term, the Blue Jays appear to be very flexible with how they use their bench players. Barney joins fellow lifelong infielder Ryan Goins as Blue Jays who have seen time in the outfield this season.</p>
<h3>Stroman and Infield Defense: Better Together.</h3>
<p>Marcus Stroman’s strong performance this afternoon saw Stro doing what he does best – keeping the ball down and generating ground balls. Stroman generated 12 ground ball outs and kept 78.3% of all balls put in play on the ground this afternoon. When Stroman is generating grounders like he was today, it becomes very apparent just how great the Jays&#8217; infield defense is – both Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki made strong plays in support of Stroman this afternoon. Groundball pitching only works if you’re able to successfully convert those bad boys into outs, and the Jays’ infielders have excelled at just that this season.</p>
<h3>Josh Donaldson: So Good He’s Boring</h3>
<p>Josh Donaldson continues to do Josh Donaldson-like things. The scary thing is that we may be getting so used to his MVP-caliber production that we barely even notice it. Donaldson came into the game slashing .306/.418/.589 on the season; which is an improvement on his award winning 2015. Some have said that Mike Trout suffers from a similar condition – he has been so good for so long we almost take it for granted. Don’t let it happen with JD too.</p>
<h3>Up Next</h3>
<p>The Blue Jays will enjoy a travel/off day tomorrow before opening up a weekend series against the Seattle Mariners on Friday at the Rogers Centre. The series with Seattle will mark the beginning of a nine-game home stand in which the Jays will face the Mariners, Padres and Orioles. Marco Estrada (5-3, 2.93 ERA) is scheduled to make his second half debut on Friday night when he faces off against James Paxton (2-4, 4.56 ERA) and his newly discovered 95 mph fastball.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Recap: Jays 5, D-Backs 2; Homers Bite the D-Backs</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/06/22/recap-jays-5-d-backs-2-homers-bite-the-d-backs/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jun 2016 23:28:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Dika]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recaps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arizona Diamondbacks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=4059</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Blue Jays hit three home runs en route to a 5-2 win this afternoon at Rogers Centre. The Jays got to Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray early, when Russell Martin tagged him for a three-run homer in the first inning. The Jays were unable to capitalize on their strong start however, as Ray held the [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Blue Jays hit three home runs en route to a 5-2 win this afternoon at Rogers Centre. The Jays got to Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray early, when Russell Martin tagged him for a three-run homer in the first inning. The Jays were unable to capitalize on their strong start however, as Ray held the Jays offence scoreless until the sixth inning, when Edwin Encarnacion and Troy Tulowitzki both hit solo home runs – Edwin off Ray, and Tulo off reliever Zack Godley. Despite struggling to throw strikes this afternoon, J.A. Happ battled through five innings of work, limiting the damage to two runs on six hits. The Blue Jays patchwork relief corps were sharp as well. Gavin Floyd, Drew Storen and Jason Grilli each pitched scoreless frames, allowing one hit and striking out four over three innings of work ahead of Roberto Osuna. Despite mustering only five hits against the Diamondbacks this afternoon, the three home runs would be enough offence for the Jays to win 5-2 and split the two game series with Arizona.</p>
<h3>Top Play of the Game by WPA</h3>
<p>What should come as a surprise to no one, the highest play by WPA was Russell Martin’s first inning home run off of Robbie Ray. After striking out Saunders for the second out of the inning, Martin cashed Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion, providing all the offence the Blue Jays would need. The play increased the Jays’ chances of winning by 24.7 percentage points.</p>
<h3>Bottom Play of the Game by WPA</h3>
<p>The bottom play of the game came in the top of the 3rd inning, when J.A. Happ struck out Welington Castillo with the bases loaded. Despite retiring the first two hitters of the inning, Happ walked three Diamondbacks hitters, around an error by Darrell Ceciliani that loaded the bases and saw one D-Backs runner score. The timely strikeout limited the damage to one run and lowered the D-Backs&#8217; chances of winning by 8.3 percentage points.</p>
<h3>Long Time Coming: Devon Travis Hits Leadoff</h3>
<p>In a move that had been anticipated for most of the season and offseason, Devon Travis was inserted into the leadoff spot on Wednesday afternoon. With Ezequiel Carrera out and Jose Bautista injured, the latest shuffling of the Blue Jays lineup saw Travis leading off with Donaldson and Encarnacion hitting second and third. Seen by many people around the team as the ideal candidate to hit ahead of the Jays big boppers, Travis had yet to be used atop the lineup due to injury and the success that came with Jose Bautista’s stint as leadoff hitter. In his debut, Travis went 0-4 with 2 K’s.</p>
<h3>Another Outfield Injury</h3>
<p>With Jose Bautista’s foot injury officially diagnosed as Turf Toe, his replacement, Ezequiel Carrera was also held out of the lineup on Wednesday afternoon, nursing a sore Achilles. Carrera is listed as day to day right now, but it will be interesting to see who the Jays run with (is it finally Dalton Pompey time???) if Carrera’s absence is longer than a day or two. Former first round pick Darrell Ceciliani got the start on Wednesday afternoon.</p>
<h3>Vintage J.A. Happ</h3>
<p>So far this season we have seen J.A. Happ evolve as a pitcher. His revamped approach on the mound includes inducing more grounders, generating fewer strikeouts, and working deeper into the game than in years past. The reinvented Happ has enjoyed success with his new approach, pitching his way to a 3.41 ERA. This afternoon however, Happ looked more like the pitcher of years past, struggling with his control (four BB) and inducing more fly balls and K’s than grounders. Despite looking shaky at points, Happ minimized the damage against him over five innings work before handing things over to the pen.</p>
<h3>Up Next</h3>
<p>After a brief two games home stand and an off day tomorrow, the Jays head to Chicago for the weekend to take on the White Sox (35-36). The series opener features a series of young flamethrowers as Aaron Sanchez (7-1, 3.35 ERA) takes on lefty Carlos Rodon (2-6, 4.16ERA). While Chicago came out of the gate hot this season, going 17-8 in April, they have struggled of late and currently sit at 35-36 for the season.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Recap: Diamondbacks 4, Blue Jays 2; Offense Falls Into a Canyon Against Arizona</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/06/21/recap-diamondbacks-4-blue-jays-2-offense-falls-into-a-canyon-against-arizona/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jun 2016 02:06:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Tammy Rainey]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Arizona Diamondbacks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=4045</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As the usual pre-game scuttlebutt rolled in, we learned that Joey Bats will be spending a couple of weeks in a boot due to turf toe, and that both Brett Cecil (who, might rejoin the team at the end of the upcoming road trip, if not before) and Franklin Morales are headed to Dunedin for rehab. [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As the usual pre-game scuttlebutt rolled in, we learned that Joey Bats will be spending a couple of weeks in a boot due to turf toe, and that both Brett Cecil (who, might rejoin the team at the end of the upcoming road trip, if not before) and Franklin Morales are headed to Dunedin for rehab. We also had a chance to look at the latest iteration of manager John Gibbons&#8217; Bautista-less lineup, featuring red-hot Devon Travis hitting second and Josh Donaldson shifted one spot down to third. Also worth noting, Gibbons said the rotation will not be adjusted in light of the two off days this week, but that the team was mulling a Drew Hutchison spot-start during the 17 game run up to the All-Star break.</p>
<p>Marco Ace-strada didn&#8217;t dominate the Diamondbacks, who&#8217;ve been a good road team thus far in 2016, allowing a small-ball run in the third and a two-run Yasmany Tomas homer in the fourth. The Blue Jays&#8217; offense was held scoreless until Kevin Pillar doubled with two runners on in the bottom of that same inning. Then Pillar killed the rally with a classic TOOTBLAN, getting thrown out at third base.</p>
<p>While Estrada continued his pop-up inducing ways (the homer notwithstanding), Arizona starter Patrick Corbin was rocking the groundball outs, getting 12 of the 19 Blue Jays batters he retired on grounders. He was driven from the game in the seventh with a 4-2 lead (after a Peter O&#8217;Brien solo-shot off Jesse Chavez in the top of the inning) and RH Jake Barrett came in to face the meat of the Jays order with one out. Barrett got out of it by inducing the Jays&#8217; second double play in two innings (their 70th of the year which leads the majors) to get out of it. The Jays would never threaten again.</p>
<h3>Top Play of the Game by WPA</h3>
<p>That Kevin Pillar double that drew the Jays within one run in the fourth came with one out and two on and increased their probability of winning by 19.4 percentage points.</p>
<h3>Bottom Play of the Game by WPA</h3>
<p>Josh Donaldson faced an identical one out, two on situation in the bottom of the seventh and came up with a shattered bat and a ground ball that produced two outs and snuffed the threat. This decreased their chance of winning by 19.2 percentage points.</p>
<h3>Marco Estrada, a Historic Pitcher</h3>
<p>Marco Estrada tonight became the first starter in over 100 years (since 1913) to reach 11 consecutive starts in which he pitched six innings or more and allowed five hits or fewer. Arbitrary markers though they may be, it&#8217;s still remarkable. He&#8217;s been able to completely surpass any expectations anybody could have had for him, and has helped the Blue Jays immensely in a year where their expected ace Marcus Stroman has not pitched to his ceiling.</p>
<h3>Trend to Watch</h3>
<p>Troy Tulowitzki may be well and truly back. Since May 10th, he&#8217;s slashing .302/.357/.587, and other than lacking his customary walk rate, looks nothing like the hitter that struggled so badly in April and in the second half of last season.</p>
<h3>Up Next</h3>
<p>Tomorrow afternoon at 4 PM eastern the Blue Jays will try to end two streaks, their own three consecutive losses and Arizona&#8217;s five consecutive wins.  JA Happ (8-3, 3.41) takes the mound in a battle of lefties with the Diamondbacks&#8217; Robby Ray (4-5, 4.44).</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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