Blue Jays game 6 preview: Stars aligning for Price

The Toronto Blue Jays are two wins away from the World Series, and their rotation couldn’t be lining up any better. AL Cy Young candidate David Price takes the ball tonight in game six at Kaufman Stadium to face Yordano Ventura, and despite the immense talents that the two pitchers share, their 2015 playoffs have been downright ugly.

Trending now: Jays find blueprint to victory in sixth inning

Toronto’s bats finally awoke in game five after their blowout loss the day prior, but in the spacious confines of Kaufman, they’ll need to find ways to manufacture runs however possible. The Blue Jays managed just three runs over the first two games in Kansas City, but their increased patience at the plate should continue to pay dividends in this win-or-go-home affair.

David Price  (2015 Postseason: 1-2, 7.02 ERA)

Price is in the perfect spot to reverse the narrative that he cannot pitch in the playoffs. It actually seemed like he would shake that label in his last outing against the Royals as he breezed through the majority of his start before quickly hitting a wall. Instead, he fueled the fire.

He’s admitted to overthinking things on the mound these past two weeks, but Price undeniably has the talent to pull off an ace-calibre start. This game is precisely why the Jays acquired him ahead of the trade deadline. After seeing how well Dioner Navarro and Marco Estrada worked the Royals and mixed their pitches, an altered strategy and effective changeup could be Price’s ticket to success. If Price can push into the sixth inning, it will be interesting to see if John Gibbons lets him roll deep or gets to the back end of the bullpen once the finish line is in sight.

Yordano Ventura  (2015 Postseason: 0-1, 6.57 ERA)

I’m confident that the Blue Jays seeing Ventura for the second time holds a greater advantage than KC seeing Price again. He’s also struggled through the playoffs, and in his start against Toronto on October 17th, he lasted 5.1 innings while allowing three runs on eight hits.

Here is where the Blue Jays will benefit from patience, as Ventura has a habit for wild control and has walked six batters in his 12.1 playoff innings. If they can force him into a high pitch count, one of his heaters will eventually find too much of the plate. The challenge, then, is to do something with it.

Blue Jay to Watch:  Ben Revere

Revere has scraped together a .238 batting average in this postseason, but has looked far from himself at the plate. He’s looked especially uncomfortable against lefties, so this matchup with Ventura could be a good opportunity to put bat on ball and turn things around (with a little help from the BABIP Gods). If Toronto hopes to manufacture runs, having Revere on base ahead of the big bats is absolutely necessary.

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