By Greg Vince, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Toronto Blue Jays (36-31) | Philadelphia Phillies (30-35) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Marco Estrada | RHP | Jeremy Hellickson | ||||||
| (4-2, 2.57 ERA) | (4-4, 4.34 ERA) | ||||||||
As the Blue Jays waited for some of the balls they golfed off of Zach Eflin to land, they made their way to Philadelphia for two games after splitting in Toronto. Having watched my share of promising pitching prospects make their debuts against merciless offense this season, it's safe to say Eflin's next outing will probably be a bit better.
Jeremy Hellickson looks to shave off his ERA which once again climbed over four after the Nationals hit him pretty hard for seven runs through six innings last week. To his credit, Hellickson has hung in there this season and has done a really good job logging innings which can bail out younger arms who might need an early exit as most of the staff is facing a pretty big learning curve.
Marco Estrada has been fantastic since joining Toronto last season and so far this year, has been arguably the best pitcher on the team. It doesn't show in the win-loss record so much but Estrada's numbers have been outstanding as he's pitched pretty deep into most of his starts in a division that is very much known for hitting. His last outing was against Baltimore where he struck out eight in six innings in a no decision.
Maikel Franco is going to miss his third straight game after injuring his right knee on Sunday. Andres Blanco will continue to fill in at third base and bat third. Ryan Howard is a career .364 hitter off of Estrada but is absent in favor of Tommy Joseph, which should pretty much end any speculation about who is the starting first baseman if there was any left.
Starting Lineups:
| Toronto Blue Jays (36-31) | Philadelphia Phillies (30-35) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | LF | Ezequiel Carrera | L | 1 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 2 | RF | Jose Bautista | R | 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 3 | 3B | Josh Donaldson | R | 3 | 3B | Andres Blanco | S |
| 4 | 1B | Edwin Encarnacion | R | 4 | 1B | Tommy Joseph | R |
| 5 | C | Russell Martin | R | 5 | LF | Cody Asche | L |
| 6 | CF | Kevin Pillar | R | 6 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R |
| 7 | SS | Ryan Goins | L | 7 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 8 | 2B | Devon Travis | R | 8 | RF | Peter Bourjos | R |
| 9 | SP | Marco Estrada | R | 9 | SP | Jeremy Hellickson | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First-pitch: 7:05 pm EST
- TV: NBC 10
- Radio: 94.1 WIP
What's Next:
Thursday, June 16, 2016: vs. Toronto Blue Jays 7:05 PM ET
- LHP J.A. Happ (7-3, 3.70 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (5-5, 2.98 ERA)
- TV: CSN, MLB.TV (Free Game of the Day)
- Radio: 94.1 WIP
