News » Blake Snell has faced the Toronto Blue Jays

twice this season en route to what looks like the second Cy Young Award in the 20-year history of the Tampa Bay Rays.In those two games Roger Clemens Jersey , Snell has pitched 11 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 17.Saturday night, he faces the Jays in his final start of the year, looking for his 22nd win when he faces Ryan Borucki in the second game of the final three-game series of the season.Article continues below ...Snell has 26 starts of two earned runs or less — 20 of one run or less. He has won nine straight starts, with a 1.03 ERA and is undefeated in 10 starts in August and September. His last loss came on July 12, before he went on the disabled list.The left-hander just defeated the Blue Jays last weekend in Toronto, when he outpitched Borucki, a hard-luck loser.“I think I’ll be telling my grandkids that I played behind him,” Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said after that game.Said manager Kevin Cash: “I think he’s pretty much cemented his case that he belongs, not just in the conversation but right at the top of the list. He’s been dominant now for a couple of months.”Snell’s last win came with his team still mathematically alive in its late-season charge at a wild-card berth. That changed the next night when the Rays were officially eliminated, making the final days less meaningful.Not for Snell, who broke David Price’s franchise record of 20 victories.The Jays were playing meaningless games a long time ago, and this weekend they’re playing their final series under manager John Gibbons after word came out Wednesday that Gibbons will not be overseeing the team’s rebuild.Friday night, Toronto nipped the Rays 7-6 as Tampa Bay lost its second straight game, its fourth in five home games this week.Borucki has been a bright spot in a tough season Justin Smoak Jersey , coming into this start 4-5 with a 3.76 ERA in 16 starts.He has faced the Rays twice, going 0-2 but allowing just four runs in 13 innings while striking out 12.Before last Sunday’s start, the lefty threw eight scoreless innings, striking out seven, in a win at Baltimore. Then he ran into Snell.“It was definitely cool, he pitched a really good game,” Borucki said. “He had all of his stuff working, kept us off balance and did a really good job. I was just trying to keep us in it, as close as we could. I had a couple of costly errors that cost me a couple of runs, but that’s just how it goes. He’s a pretty good pitcher.”So, apparently, is Borucki, who tossed his 11th quality start out of 16.“The kid can just pitch,” said Gibbons. “I think his breaking ball has gotten better since he has been here and he knows what he’s doing. He can throw different things in different times. … The bottom line is he can pitch. He has a feel for what he is doing and that can take him a long way.”The current Rays are just 6-for-44 (.176) with no homers against Borucki, Mallex Smith 1-for-7 (.143) and C.J. Cron 1-for-6 (.167).Devon Travis is 3-for-7 (.429) and Kevin Pillar 5-for-14 (.357) with a home run against Snell http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-marco-estrada-jersey , but Kendrys Morales is 1-for-11 (.091), the hit a homer, Randal Grichuk 1-for-8 (.125) and Justin Smoak 2-for-12 (.167) against him. CLEVELAND — Two teams that have won their respective divisions three years in a row will meet Saturday night at Progressive Field for the second game of a three-game series that could be a potential preview of a postseason series.The 105-win Boston Red Sox, the American League East champions, will face the 85-win Cleveland Indians, the AL Central champs. The two teams split a four-game series in Boston last month. Boston beat Cleveland 7-5 on Friday night, the Red Sox’s 105th win of the season, tying the franchise record set in 1912.Saturday’s pitching matchup will be two right-handers, Boston’s Rick Porcello vs. Cleveland’s Mike Clevinger.Article continues below ...Porcello (17-7, 4.30 ERA) is coming off a 5-3 win over the New York Mets in his last start, on Sept. 15. In that game, Porcello pitched five innings, giving up three runs and two hits with five strikeouts and one walk.Porcello’s last start against Cleveland came Aug. 20. The Red Sox lost that game and Porcello took the loss, pitching seven innings and allowing five runs and six hits, with six strikeouts and one walk. In his career against the Indians Aaron Sanchez Jersey , Porcello has made 23 starts and is 10-5 with a 3.51 ERA.Clevinger is on a late-season roll. In his last eight starts, he is 5-1 with a 1.85 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .189 batting average.Those numbers include his last start, a 15-0 win over Detroit on Sept. 15. Clevinger pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, with five strikeouts and three walks.Clevinger last faced Boston on Aug. 21, 2017, when he got no decision in a 5-4 Cleveland victory. He pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs and four hits, with four strikeouts, four walks and two home runs allowed.Boston is not one of Clevinger’s preferred opponents. In two starts against the Red Sox last year, his only two career appearances against Boston, he was 0-1 with an 11.05 ERA. In 7 1/3 innings in those two starts, he gave up nine runs, 11 hits and eight walks.One of the hitters in Boston’s potent lineup that Clevinger will have to pay particular attention to is MVP candidate J.D. Martinez, who in his four years with the Detroit Tigers Kevin Pillar Jersey , wore out Cleveland pitching. Martinez is a career .308 hitter vs. Cleveland, and he has more home runs (18) and RBIs (54) against the Indians than against any other opponent in the major leagues.This year, Martinez is having a career year. He leads the league in RBIs (124) and is second in the AL in hitting (.330) and second in home runs (41).“Unless you make your pitches to him, he can do some damage,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He can pull it with power, hit it the other way with power. He’s taken things to another level this year. He’s really dangerous.”A key hitter for the Indians is third baseman Josh Donaldson, who was acquired in a trade with Toronto on Aug. 31, and is trying to get up to speed after spending most of the 2018 season on the disabled list with a strained calf.Donaldson was used as the designated hitter Friday night, and Francona said he will start at third base on Saturday and Sunday, the first time since joining Cleveland that Donaldson has played three games in a row.“He’s gotten himself in great shape, and it’s paying off,” Francona said. “We’re trying to play him enough without playing too much.”