Game 157: Red Sox at Blue Jays, Giolito vs. Gausman

"To be fair, Giolito's followed that up with an outstanding summer. However, he's also shown recent signs of slippage, including walking 14 batters in his last four outings. Unfortunately, he's probably going to have to be outstanding to win tonight because Kevin Gausman is on the hill for the Jays and he has a 0.90 ERA over his last four starts. He's also pitched deep in those games (piling up 30 innings of work) while only walking four guys."

"As far as the lineup goes, Masataka Yoshida is batting cleanup again, which I find completely ridiculous given he has just four extra base hits (and zero home runs) over his last 29 games. He's also posted a putrid .579 OPS over that stretch. It's maddening a guy with those numbers is being given the opportunity to bat 4th in a game of this magnitude!"

Lucas Giolito previously surrendered a 6-0 lead at Rogers Centre on April 30. Giolito delivered an outstanding summer overall but has shown recent slippage, walking 14 batters in his last four starts. Kevin Gausman has a 0.90 ERA over his last four starts and has logged 30 innings while issuing only four walks, indicating strong recent form and deep outings. If those trends continue, the Blue Jays offense is likely to have more opportunities than the Red Sox. Masataka Yoshida is batting cleanup despite only four extra-base hits and zero home runs in his last 29 games and a .579 OPS. First pitch is 7:07 pm at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Read at Over the Monster