The Blue Jays beat up on the terrible Orioles but the Phillies are 30 games better than the O's. The Phighting Phils are trying to catch the Atlanta Braves and they want to beat up on the Jays to do so. Gabe Kapler was getting a lot of flack at the start of the season but the results have quieted things down. Their offense is led by Rhys Hoskins who has 25 home runs and is avoiding the sophomore slump. You might notice Odubel Herrera who is one of the slowest hitters in MLB in terms of time per pitch. He seems proud of it too.

Lourdes Gurriel is back, Richard Urena is Buffalo bound. Gurriel will try to continue his games with multiple hits streak, it's tough to do off the DL but he was hitting in Buffalo. Aaron Sanchez will return to start tomorrow, someone will have to join Urena.

The Yankees are not as hot as they used to be and have been hurt by injuries and some inconsistent starting pitching. Can the Jays take advantage? It is the first trip to Yankee stadium for some of the kids and two of them get to be starting pitchers. In addition Billy McKinney was recalled today to cover for Luke Maile's paternity leave. Will SRF be calm enough to pitch effectively? On Sunday the Jays face their old team mate JA Happ.

In news from New York, Russ Atkins has gone on the record that Gibby will be the manager until the end of the season. Then, as always, his status will be reevaluated.

There are two teams in a race for the worst record in baseball and the number one draft position in 2019. Seven of the Jays next ten games are against these two teams. In case you didn't know, the teams are the KC Royals and the Baltimore Orioles. In between the Jays go to Yankee Stadium for three games.

With the Jays starting their Buffalo battery in tonight's game, an early start to the series thread seems to be in order. If you are giving a major league debut to a pitcher, having him start against the Royals is not a bad way to do it. The lineup he faces will be better than those he has seen in Buffalo, but not by that much. SRF then gets to face the Yankees in Yankee Stadium on Saturday, before facing the Phillies back home, assuming all goes to plan.

It is the middle of August and this qualifies as a "playing out the string" game. Both the Rays and Jays were active in trading away some of their prized assets in July so the remainders will take the field tonight.

From the pre-game chatter, Marcus Stroman will test his finger today to see if he can pitch on Sunday. Giiby has gone on the record, again, as saying if there is going to be a full rebuild he needs to get out of here so he is making it easy for the front office to get rid of him, if they want to. Gibby might have been saving his major league manager money over the last few years and will be happy to go home and sit on the porch.