The Toronto Blue Jays (72-67) have taken two of three games in the series and seven of nine overall from the Texas Rangers (76-63) this season, and will need to maintain that type of mastery over the final few weeks if they hope to pare down the double-digit leads held by the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays in the division and wild-card races, respectively. The Rangers, meanwhile, hope to salvage what's been an arduous, 10-game road trip with a second straight win. Despite stumbling to a 3-6 mark on the trek, they enjoy a comfortable seven-game lead over the Oakland Athletics in the American League West Division.
Pitching matchup
Shawn Hill (0-0, 0.00) vs. Colby Lewis (9-12, 3.96).
Hill, from nearby Georgetown, Ont., is making his first start with Toronto and for the first time in a very long time — since April 25, 2009, when he pitched for the San Diego Padres. Two months later, he underwent a second elbow ligament replacement surgery, known as Tommy John surgery, and signed with Toronto on Jan. 22, 2010. He looked sharp in 11 minor-league starts this season, posting a 1.61 earned-run average.
Lewis hasn't won in eight weeks, going 0-7 since recording his last win on July 16. Don't expect the Blue Jays to be sympathetic, though. They beat Lewis 5-2 on May 16, leaving him 1-3 lifetime versus Toronto with an abysmal 12.27 ERA.
Injury update
Toronto: Third baseman Edwin Encarnacion remains on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left wrist.
Texas: Centre-fielder Josh Hamilton is listed day-to-day with bruised ribs, while shortstop Elvis Andrus is shelved with a problematic hamstring.
The series
Wells walloped a three-run homer, Aaron Hill had a two-run blast and Yunel Escobar added a solo shot in a 7-2 Toronto win in Monday's series opener. The next night, Wells homered twice and Adam Lind and John Buck hit solo homers as the Blue Jays prevailed 8-5. Jose Molina's solo homer in the eighth inning extended Toronto's homer streak to 10 games Wednesday night — a small victory as the Blue Jays lost big, 8-1.
What they said
"I need to re-establish myself, whether that's here [in Toronto] or Idaho or Korea. It'll be a nice story and all that, but I've got a lot of work to do." — Blue Jays pitcher Shawn Hill
"When you're not doing what you want to do, the mood can get sombre. We had to get back to doing what we can do." — Rangers manager Ron Washington.
