The Toronto Blue Jays will try to solve one of their most baffling opponents when they step to the plate against Rays pitcher Matt Garza on Wednesday night in Tampa Bay (7:10 p.m. ET).
Garza (10-7, 3.71 ERA) has been tough on batters throughout the majors in his first season with Tampa Bay but the Blue Jays have found him nearly unhittable. In three starts against Toronto, the young right-hander is 2-1 with a miniscule 0.39 earned-run average.
Garza, 24, has been particularly outstanding in his last two outings against the Jays, tossing 16 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing just seven hits, walking one and striking out 11.
Most recently, he twirled a complete-game five-hitter on July 29 at Rogers Centre, outduelling Toronto ace Roy Halladay in a 3-0 Rays win.
"I told [Garza] after the game how hard it is to beat Halladay at home," said former Blue Jay Eric Hinske, whose third-inning solo homer provided all the offence Tampa needed. "We only scored him one run for the first seven innings and he just kept shutting them down and shutting them down. It was huge for us."
Nasty at 'the Trop'That kind of performance is what Tampa Bay general manager Andrew Friedman envisioned when he acquired Garza last off-season in a six-player deal with Minnesota. Indeed, Friedman thought enough of the Californian to send promising outfielder Delmon Young — a former first-overall draft pick — to the Twins, who also shipped shortstop Jason Bartlett the other way.
Garza has been especially nasty at Tampa's Tropicana Field, where the Rays (79-51) own the best home record (49-19) and best home ERA (3.11) in the American League. Garza is 6-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 12 home starts this season at "the Trop."
Tampa, though, is coming off back-to-back losses at home for only the second time since the all-star break.
The AL East-leading Rays (79-51), who haven't dropped three straight on their own diamond since mid-April, fell 6-2 on Tuesday in their series opener against Toronto (68-63).
Jays ace Roy Halladay allowed two runs over six innings to outpitch Tampa's James Shields, cutting the Rays' division lead to 3½ games over Boston.
Wells regains strokeHalladay told the Blue Jays' official website he's impressed by how Tampa Bay has dealt with injuries to Evan Longoria (fractured right wrist) and Carl Crawford (finger injury).
"They still have players in there who have got the job done," he said. "Even with them out of there, I think you kind of keep in mind that the way they've been playing, there's no letdown, regardless of who's in there."
Though they're still 11½ games back of Tampa in the AL East and eight behind Boston in the wild card chase, the Jays have mounted an impressive late-season surge, winning nine of their last 13.
Leading the way offensively for Toronto lately is Vernon Wells. The slugging centre-fielder, who has spent two lengthy stints on the DL this season, is hitting a sizzling .643 (9-for-14) with four homers and nine RBIs in his last three games. On the season he is hitting .297 with 14 homers.
On Wednesday, Wells and the rest of the Toronto bats will be looking to support shaky rookie David Purcey (2-4, 6.55), who makes his eighth start of the season.
The left-hander struggled in a 5-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday, yielding five runs and seven hits over four innings.
"I was rushing and it was a quick night," he said. "I was just a little too anxious. I was trying to do too much on the mound."
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Contact Us About Us HomeWednesday, November 19th, 2008