Toronto @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Apr 18, 2010 ) LA Angels 3, Toronto 1
Edwin Encarnacion is likely sad to see the Toronto Blue Jays’ series at Chase Field come to an end. But the way he is swinging the bat right now, it doesn’t matter what stadium he is hitting in.
Encarnacion enjoyed a monster three-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks, finishing with five home runs, including belting three in Friday’s contest to bring his season total to seven.
The third baseman and the rest of Toronto’s highly-potent offense will wrap up an eight-game road trip when they travel to face the Los Angeles Angels for three games beginning on Monday.
Encarnacion isn’t the only deep threat on the roster as the Blue Jays lead the league in homers with 76 after belting 10 in three games against Arizona. The outburst hasn’t been entirely effective as the team has dropped three of four.
Encarnacion has found his groove since being activated from the disabled list because of a sore right shoulder on May 17. He is 7-for-19 with six homers and 11 RBIs in that span.
As good as Encarnacion has been of late, Jose Bautista has been the Blue Jays’ most potent offensive option with team-highs of 14 homers and 38 RBIs.
Looking for some of that run support will be starter Brett Cecil, who is eying his first winning streak of the campaign. He is 3-2 with a 4.98 ERA through six starts.
Cecil allowed two runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings of Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners. The left-hander, in his second season in the big leagues, has not faced the Angels in his career.
The Angels are fresh off a seven-game road trip in which they posted a record of 3-4. They are aiming for their fourth straight victory over the Blue Jays.
Joe Saunders heads to the mound as he looks to continue the turnaround of his season. Saunders lost five of his first six decisions, but has appeared to find his groove in winning back-to-back starts.
The left-hander has allowed just one run on eight hits over his previous 16 2/3 innings. He is 3-5 with a 4.42 ERA on the season.
Saunders faced the Blue Jays earlier in the year, earning the win by allowing two unearned runs over eight innings.
Angels catcher Mike Napoli homered for the third game in a row with a three-run shot during Sunday’s 6-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He added a pair of singles and recorded six hits and drove in seven runs during the three-game set.