Jays try to build on big Opening Day win
Posted April 2, 2011 11:55 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista’s start to 2011 looked a lot like last year’s record-setting campaign. However, he could have some competition for another home run title from one of his teammates.
J.P. Arencibia will try to build on a superb season opener and lead Toronto to another win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
Coverage for today’s Twins-Jays game begins at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT on Sportsnet.
After hitting no more than 16 homers in his first six seasons, Bautista proved to be one of the biggest surprises in baseball in 2010 after setting a franchise record and leading the majors with 54.
He got off to a good start in Friday’s season opener with a solo shot off Carl Pavano in the fifth inning of a 13-3 rout. Bautista finished with three hits, but was overshadowed.
Arencibia belted two homers among three hit and finished with five RBIs, almost surpassing the totals from his first 11 major league games in 2010. He finished 5 for 35 with four RBIs over that span, but also homered twice in his major league debut Aug. 7.
“I really feel like the team is excited about what’s going on here,” Arencibia said. “That was the biggest thing for me. I had so much fun playing behind these guys. Everyone from top to bottom had a great game.”
If he starts again Saturday, Arencibia will catching pitches from one of the Blue Jays’ top prospects in Kyle Drabek, the son of former NL Cy Young Award winner Doug Drabek.
Drabek, who came over from Philadelphia in December 2009 as part of the Roy Halladay trade, lost each of his first three major league starts last September while finishing with a 4.76 ERA. The right-hander, though, showed some promise in spring training by going 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in four starts.
Meanwhile, the Twins’ Francisco Liriano will try to take the first step toward surpassing his career-high 14 victories from 2010.
He’ll also attempt to put last season’s difficult finish behind him. Liriano lost each of his final three starts during the regular season, including one against Toronto, while posting a 8.10 ERA. He also gave up four pivotal runs in the opener of an AL division series sweep to the New York Yankees.
Liriano was 1-1 with a 4.82 ERA in five spring training starts, and had a solid effort in his final one Monday. He gave up three runs, four hits and no walks over six innings against Pittsburgh.
“I had much more control. I was trying to locate, no matter what, and not walk anybody. I was able to get my pitch count up and go deeper into the game,” Liriano told the team’s official website.
He finished the exhibition season with 23 strikeouts and nine walks over 18 2-3 innings, but hasn’t had much success against Toronto, going 0-2 with a 4.05 ERA in three career matchups. The Blue Jays tagged him for five runs over 5 1-3 innings in a 13-2 rout on Sept. 30.
Bautista hit the final two homers of his incredible season in that game, but neither were off of Liriano. He’s 3 for 8 with three strikeouts in his career against the left-hander.
