Tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET the Toronto Blue Jays (67-66) will attempt to make their way back into the American League wild card hunt when they start a three-game series against the New York Yankees (69-63) at the Rogers Centre. Watch the game online by clicking this link; Yankees fans can hear the game by turning their radio dials to 101.9 WFAN FM, while Jays fans can do the same on SN590. Chris Capuano (1-3, 4.37 ERA) will take the mound for the Yankees against Mark Buehrle (11-8, 3.43 ERA).
After looking solid for much of the season, things have fallen apart for the Blue Jays, and their playoff hopes are very slim. Still, they aren't packing it in according to manager John Gibbons.
"Yeah, we're up against a big headwind, but yeah, you have to stay optimistic," Gibbons told MLB's official website. "Why wouldn't you? What, are you going to quit?"
With Buerhle on the mound, the odds aren't in Toronto's favor tonight. He has a dreadful 1-12 record in his career vs. the Bronx Bomber, and several Yankees, especially Ichiro Suzuki and Derek Jeter, have walloped him for years.
That history should bolster the Yankees' resolve after a tough defeat against Detroit on Thursday, as should the news regarding Masahiro Tanaka's simulated game. Brendan Ryan stood in against the Yankees ace, and spoke about how he looked.
"The pinpoint [command] is probably going to be the last thing to come. I would expect that to be there pretty soon," Ryan said. "He can go out there and get outs now, just on stuff alone. The sooner the better. I'd say it was a pretty good day."
Tanaka didn't report feeling any pain-just rust. I think some of the balls I am throwing, I'm still not able to hit my spots," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "The rust is still there, so I still have some work to do to get back to game-ready."
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