Toronto @ Cleveland preview
Progressive Field
Last Meeting ( May 5, 2010 ) Toronto 5, Cleveland 4
Four days in Cleveland may not seem like a vacation to most - but to the Toronto Blue Jays, it might be just what they need to forget their most difficult month of the season.
The Blue Jays face one of the American League's bottom feeders Monday as they open a four-game series against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. It's the second trip to Ohio this season for the Blue Jays, who earned a sweep of the Indians in their previous meeting on May 3-5.
While Toronto certainly won't take Cleveland lightly, the Blue Jays will no doubt be happy to play a team on the wrong side of the .500 mark for a change. Toronto is coming off a stretch of eight straight series against teams with winning records, going 10-14 over that span to fall into fourth place in the AL East.
The Blue Jays fought gamely in their previous series but wound up dropping two of three against the Philadelphia Phillies. That showdown was supposed to be played at the Rogers Centre, but was relocated to Philadelphia because of the G20 financial summit taking place in downtown Toronto over the weekend.
The Blue Jays retained the last at-bat in the series, but it didn't do them much good as they dropped a 9-0 decision on Friday and were drubbed 11-2 on Sunday. They managed to escape with a 5-1 victory Saturday, but still head to Cleveland having lost five of their last seven games.
Sunday's defeat was the sloppiest of the season for Toronto, which committed four errors that led to six unearned runs. Three of those slip-ups came in a difficult sixth inning in which the Phillies scored four times, turning a 7-2 lead into an 11-2 laugher.
The Blue Jays hope to be more responsible in the field as they turn to left-hander Ricky Romero (6-3) in the season opener. Romero has been one of the lone bright spots for Toronto over the past week, putting together back-to-back solid outings to return to his early-season form.
Romero handled the St. Louis Cardinals his last time out, limiting them to eight hits over eight scoreless innings. He didn't factor in the decision as the Cardinals scored a run in the ninth inning, then held on for a 1-0 victory. The start before that, Romero allowed an unearned run over six innings to earn a 7-1 victory in San Diego.
Romero has some strange career numbers against the Indians. He's 2-0 all-time, but has a 7.15 ERA - the third-highest against any opponent. He was touched for five runs on nine hits over six innings in his last outing against the Indians, but escaped with an 8-5 victory.
Cleveland counters with veteran right-hander Jake Westbrook (4-4). He's coming off a shaky outing against the Phillies five days ago, allowing four runs in five innings. He earned a no-decision in the 7-6 Philadelphia win.
The Indians halted an ugly seven-game losing streak Sunday with a 5-3 win over the cross-state rival Cincinnati Reds. Despite the victory, Cleveland is just 2-11 over its last 13 games.