Blue Jays series preview and pitching matchups: Home for the Rays

Game 3:  Wednesday, May 18th   –   7:07 ET

R.A. Dickey (2-4, 4.31 ERA) vs.
Jake Odorizzi (0-2, 3.83 ERA)

R.A. Dickey is heating up, and it’s coming at a point much earlier than his mid-season turnaround from last season.

His last outing in Texas marked one of his best as a Blue Jay, lasting eight strong innings of shutout ball, allowing just three hits and striking out six. Beyond the simple scoreline, too, his knuckleball looked truly on.

Dickey added some extra velocity behind his signature pitch against the Rangers, remarking after the game in Texas that the humidity and game conditions were ideal on that night. He was also locating the ball very well in the upper regions of the zone, producing some swings-and-misses from the Rangers batters.

Next: Colabello still searching for answers following suspension

The right-handed Odorizzi is enjoying a fine season of his own despite still searching for his first win.

Odorizzi owns a 3.83 ERA through his first eight starts, but is coming off a difficult outing against the Oakland Athletics last week. He allowed five earned runs on seven hits over four innings that day, but looked good in his three starts prior.

He did allow two home runs against Oakland, so with a low ground ball rate and a hard-contact percentage that has increased this season, the Blue Jays could be looking at an opportunity to flash their power.