Diamondbacks seek to stay hot vs. Blue Jays
Arizona didn’t generate a ton of offense during last night’s series opener vs. Toronto. The visiting team’s proclivity for the long ball, though, once again paid major dividends.
Homers by Yasmany Tomas and Peter O’Brien propelled the Diamondbacks past the Blue Jays, 4-3, in a rare interleague meeting between the organizations. The blink-and-you-miss-it two-game set wraps up this afternoon, with a 4:07 p.m. ET first pitch at Rogers Centre. Online sports book BetDSI picks the hosts to rebound. Arizona, on the other hand, enters as a +150 underdog.
Frankly, it seems like a dubious decision to go against the D-backs these days. Chip Hale’s club is riding a five-game winning streak. In addition to the continued excellence of performers like Tomas and Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona boasts an absolute hammer at the back end of the bullpen. Brad Ziegler has converted a club-record 43 save attempts in a row.
In several hours, however, Robbie Ray gets first dibs on the mound in the Great White North. The 24-year-old targets his third straight winning start. Most recently, Ray limited the Phillies to two runs over six innings.
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Toronto manager John Gibbons counters with J.A. Happ, who knows the Diamondbacks a bit from his time with Philadelphia. The veteran hurler holds a 2-1 mark with a 1.73 ERA in five matchups vs. the NL West’s fourth-place outfit. Happ’s also rolling at present, registering a 2-1 record WHIP and 15 strikeouts in June.
Can the Blue Jays finally vanquish a tough southpaw? They’re only hitting .249 off lefties this year, and Ray’s looked markedly better of late. Still, we can’t quite count on the D-backs to claim back-to-back sweeps. Put your trust in Happ.
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