Liriano looks to bounce back from awful start
Lefty putting game against Tampa in past
• After a stellar spring, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano was as surprised as anyone with his season opening effort last weekend in Tampa when he allowed five runs and failed to get out of the first inning.
Liriano gets the opportunity to make up for it here on Thursday when the Jays face the visiting Baltimore Orioles in the first of a fourgame series.
“I’ ll try to go out there and make some good pitches and put it all behind me,” the Jays lefty said on Wednesday. “Forget about i t. You’re going to have games like that. The season didn’t start the way I wanted, but it happens.”
The Jays are expecting big things out of Liriano, who struggled with his location in his first start, a 10- 8 Jays loss.
“I don’t expect him to do that again,” said Jays backup catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who was behind the plate. “Typically from what I’ve seen he’ll have one game like that. Maybe it was nerves in that first game, it just didn’t work out our way. ( Rays hitters) didn’t chase pitches that they normally would.”
SHUFFLE IT UP
With Josh Donaldson back in the Jays lineup after missing most of Tuesday’s contest with a calf injury, Jays manager John Gibbons had to shuffle the lineup for Game 2 of the two-game series against Milwaukee.
Because the team doesn’t want to see Donaldson aggravate the injury, he took over designated hitter duties Wednesday, as the Jays were looking to get a series split.
Gibbons moved Kendrys Morales from DH to first base and utility infielder Darwin Barney over to third.
MARTIN STRUGGLES
Jays catcher Russell Martin was on the verge of some dubious club history heading into Wednesday’s contest at the Rogers Centre.
Struggling at the plate, Martin began the season with 18 consecutive at- bats without a hit, tied for the third- longest streak in Jays history. The record of 21 was set by another catcher, Pat Borders, in 1991.
“He’s really focused, but he’s a human being, too,” Gibbons said when asked if he felt Martin was pressing at the plate.
“Nobody wants to do better than him. I think his mind’s clear. He’s up there battling.”