Good evening Game Thread fans! I'm back for another Friday night thread opener! Please, please...hold your applause! Tip your waitstaff...
Today's tilt features an old friend and a new friend. Unfortunately for the old friend, we hope he loses. Fortunately for the new friend, we hope that he doesn't. Of course, I'm referring Jose Berrios and Tyler Mahle. Berrios, after an awful first half of the season, had a pretty good July. Tyler Mahle, on the other hand, is making his Twins debut after being acquired from the Reds at the trade deadline. He faces a pretty tough lineup that beat up the Twins bullpen last evening.
Before I get too far into this thing, I'd just like to mention that I always enjoy attending games against the Blue Jays. The fans travel well and they make for a fun atmosphere. They're enthusiastic, into the game and get behind their team. They're also very friendly people, which only enhances the experience that is seldom seen with fans of towns I won't mention like Chicago, Boston and New York. They're often good games, so good and friendly fans with a good crowd makes for an excellent atmosphere. So, I raise my Sazerac to the Blue Jays fans' and thank you for not being like those fans from towns I won't mention like Chicago, Boston and New York!
Now that we have that out of the way, here are the lineups for this steamy evening matchup.
Toronto:
CF - Merrifield
1B - Guerrero, Jr
DH - Gurriel, Jr
RF - Hernandez
SS - Bichette
3B - Chapman
C - Jansen
LF - Tapia
2B - Espinal
Twins:
2B - Arraez
SS - Correa
DH - Polanco
3B - Miranda
LF - Gordon
RF - Cave
1B - Beckham
CF - Contreras
C - Leon
Enjoy the game!