Toronto Blue Jays face capital foe in Washington Nationals

May 22, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marco Estrada (25) pitches against the Seattle Mariners in the second inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Game 2:  Tuesday, June 2nd  –  7:05 ET

The Blue Jays will turn to Marco Estrada on Tuesday as the converted long-relief man looks to hold off Daniel Norris, who is currently lurking in AAA Buffalo.  Estrada’s overall ERA of 3.89 looks attractive, but sits over 5.00 as a starter.  Regardless, Estrada has done well to keep the Blue Jays involved in ball games and should continue to keep the cap on opposing offenses.

Estrada will be slightly overmatched on the mound as the Nationals counter with Max Scherzer.  Over Scherzer’s past four starts (29.0 IP), he has allowed just two earned runs.  Over that same span he has struck out 36 and walked just five.

Scherzer’s fastball can hit 94 MPH and he plays a changeup off of that which he works around the mid-80’s.  He will also show the Blue Jays a slider and curveball sparingly.  Unless Toronto can crack the nearly unbreakable code here, playing for a 2-1 series win may be a more realistic goal.

Next: Game 3: Buehrle building on momentum