Toronto @ Chicago preview
Guaranteed Rate Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 12, 2013 ) Toronto 0, Chi. White Sox 0
A pair of last-place teams meet Monday when the Chicago White Sox host the Toronto Blue Jays in the makeup game of a June 12 contest that was postponed due to rain. That postponement came in the early portions of Toronto's franchise record-tying 11-game winning streak that vaulted the club into the thick of playoff discussions. The Blue Jays have gone 33-48 since then after a 5-2 loss at Boston on Sunday.
Chicago took the opener of that series against Toronto before the rainout to improve to 28-34. It has produced a 37-56 mark since then to tumble to the basement of the American League Central. The White Sox had lost 18 of 22 before picking up a 6-3 win at Detroit on Sunday to prevent the Tigers from clinching the division at home.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, SNET (Toronto), CSN+ (Chicago)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays LH J.A. Happ (4-6, 4.82 ERA) vs. White Sox LH Jose Quintana (8-6, 3.49)
Happ's up-and-down campaign continued against the New York Yankees on Wednesday, when he yielded a run and four hits in seven innings. He had failed to get through six innings in any of his previous six starts while posting a 5.22 ERA. The 30-year-old gave up five runs in 5 2/3 frames in his only career start against Chicago on April 17.
While his team has fallen on hard times, Quintana is finishing with a flourish. He is 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA over his last seven starts after allowing a run in six innings versus Minnesota on Tuesday. Quintana was the losing pitcher in the first of Toronto's 11 straight wins in June, giving up four runs - two earned - in 6 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Quintana is 2-1 with a 2.10 ERA in four career starts versus the Blue Jays.
2. Blue Jays starters had allowed three earned runs or less in nine straight games before R.A. Dickey surrendered five runs in eight frames against the Red Sox on Sunday.
3. Toronto heads to Baltimore to open a three-game series Tuesday. Chicago travels to Cleveland for two games.
PREDICTION: White Sox 5, Blue Jays 4