The Toronto Blue Jays have not fared so well against lefties this season, but they'll try to change their fortune on Wednesday when they face Chris Sale and the Chicago White Sox in the rubber match of a three- game series at U.S. Cellular Field.
Toronto has gone just 6-11 against left-handed starters. However, Sale faced the Blue Jays on April 18 and took a loss after giving up three runs over seven innings.
The southpaw was tagged for four runs over 7 1/3 innings in Friday's 4-3 loss to Oakland. Sale, who has held opponents to a .167 batting average at U.S. Cellular Field, has never lost back-to-back home starts in his career.
Taking the hill for Toronto is reliever-turned-starter Esmil Rogers, who is making his third start. Rogers could not get past the fourth inning in either of his first two starts. He struck out six in four innings of work against Texas last week, as he allowed one earned run on three hits.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said his team needs to start stringing together some wins.
"We had some stretches where we won a few games in a row here and there, but when you're that far below .500, its tough," Gibbons said. "You've got to reel off a nice stretch just to get back to .500. Until you do that, they don't take you serious."
Both teams are in last place in their respective divisions. The White Sox certainly showed why in Tuesday's 7-5 loss in 10 innings, as they committed three errors while also making four outs on the base paths.
"It's just a matter of winning a few games in a row and not letting this one get us down," White Sox reliever Matt Thornton said. "We're going to lose games the rest of the way. We're going to lose a bunch of games the rest of the way. But it's a matter of stringing a bunch of wins together in between those losses."
Chien-Ming Wang made his Blue Jays debut on Tuesday and gave up five runs in 7 1/3 innings. He got some help when Jose Bautista tied the game with a solo blast in the ninth inning off closer Addison Reed with two outs and down to his final strike.
The Blue Jays would later win it on a wild pitch in the 10th to snap Chicago's three-game win streak. Adam Lind chipped in with three hits, while Edwin Encarnacion hit his 18th home run.
Bautista and Chicago's Adam Dunn have each homered three times so far in the series. Dunn is eight for his last 15 with four home runs and seven RBI.
"We're happy (Tuesday) and (Wednesday) is a new day," said Lind. "Another tough game, their ace is on the mound so we know what we're in for."
These teams split four games in Toronto from April 15-18.
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