The Cleveland Guardians will try to cling to their four-game winning streak in Friday’s visit to Rogers Centre to take on the Toronto Blue Jays. After splitting even with the Houston Astros, the Guardians got a strong start to their road trip by sweeping the Detroit Tigers in a three-game visit. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays dropped back-to-back losses to the Baltimore Orioles before having their third game postponed. Cal Quantrill gets the green light to start on the mound for Cleveland in this matchup opposite of Toronto’s Jose Berrios.
Cal Quantrill is like a different person when he’s pitching at Progressive Field for the Guardians. He’s unbeaten at home this season with a 3.16 ERA. But my goodness, things start to fall apart when he’s throwing on the road.
He’s 2-5 as the visiting pitcher with a 4.96 ERA.
That’s a bad problem when facing a Blue Jays team packing some serious power at the plate. The team is averaging the sixth-most home runs with a .171 ISO. One or two big mistakes on the mound could punch the Guardians’ ticket to a series-opening loss.
The good news for Cleveland is the fact that they at least found some success offensively when these two teams last met. They’re averaging 5.25 runs in the four games they’ve played against the Blue Jays this season. Quantrill would certainly thank them for their effort if they could keep at least s ome of the heat off him.
This Blue Jays team is a different animal when they’re playing at home.