Series Preview in Blog: Toronto Blue Jays

This post is also published at Stick and Ball Guy's site. Stop by and check out what SBG Nation has to say.

Minnesota Twins (22-24) v. Toronto Blue Jays (21-25)

The Twins return home after a nine game road trip, on which they went 4-5. They started by being swept by the Indians before taking two of three from Milwaukee and Texas. Toronto will finish off their own nine game road trip with this series. They are 3-3 thus far, losing 2 of 3 to Philadelphia last weekend and winning 2 of 3 from Baltimore this week. The Blue Jays have a 9-14 record on the road, while the Twins have a slightly better 10-13 record at home. The Blue Jays are currently third in the AL East, 10 games back of the Red Sox and a half game back of the second place Yankees. The Twins remain in fourth place in the central division, 7 games back of Detroit and 2.5 back of third place Chicago.

This has little to do with the Jays, but Happy Birthday to Jason Kubel (Friday). Hopefully someday he will make it off the bench on the "Born on May 25" team.

On to the Jays:

The only thing I don't understand about this list is how Corey Koskie was on this team for a full season and managed to not make a single appearance.

The Jays have shown signs of life recently, but for a while, they looked terrible (I'm sure some of you can relate). That stretch included a nine game losing streak and a stretch of 5-14 baseball. As this interview with Jays manager John Gibbons shows, there's no need to worry he's on top of all the important things. Here's a more serious analysis of some of general manager J. P. Riccardi's moves this season.

The Blue Jays pitchers for the series will be Jesse Litsch (called up on Tuesday), Tomo Ohka, and A. J. Burnett. Saturday's matchup of Ohka vs. Ortiz should be interesting. Ohka was removed from the rotation earlier this month after going 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA in May. Saturday marks his return to the rotation after 11 days rest. Burnett has won his last three starts and has been the rock of the rotation in recent times for Toronto. The Twins will not be seeing Roy Halliday this series as he is still recovering from an appendectomy.

Offensively, Lyle Overbay has continued his slow start, which could be cause for concern for Jays fans. You can also add Vernon Wells to that list.

The Blue Jays all-time top 50 has some familiar faces for Twins fans. Specifically #21, #33, and #38. No, I didn't get those numbers wrong, Paul Molitor is really only #38 on that list. Here's the authors defense of that placement.

Finally, while the Jays are here at the Dome, I'm sure that Twins fans will be well behaved. However, if they aren't nice to Vernon Wells, they may get a souvenir out of the deal. More on the story here.

That's it from me, if you find anything interesting, feel free to post it in the comments. Thanks for reading.