Texas is losing steam and losing games without slugger Josh Hamilton. Toronto, minus 165 on the MLB odds board, will continue to give the Rangers fits in Tuesday
The Texas Rangers (75-62, 32-36 road) are in one of their worst slumps of the MLB season, having lost four consecutive games. They are also without their best hitter, outfielder Josh Hamilton, for an extended period due to a rib injury. Their best pitcher, Cliff Lee, is dealing with back issues.
The Toronto Blue Jays (71-66, 37-29 home) will look to extend the Rangers’ woes on Tuesday night at the Rogers Center in the second game of a four-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. ET.
Current baseballodds have the Blue Jays listed as -165 favorites. The total is set at nine runs.
In the first game of the series on Monday afternoon, the Blue Jays blasted the Rangers by a score of 7-2. Vernon Wells had a home run and three RBI for Toronto, which sent Texas to its fourth straight loss. It was also the sixth consecutive win for the Blue Jays over the Rangers, dating back to April 7. Story continued at MLB Free Pick: Blue Jays Will Extend Rangers Losing Streak - Baseball Betting Preview
As if the Argonauts didn’t have enough to worry about, what with a struggling rookie quarterback running a bottom-of-the-league offence.
Heading into Friday night’s game at Commonwealth Stadium, there’s every chance Toronto’s CFL team won’t get its fourth victory of the season unless it wins a night’s worth of battles, not only against the Edmonton Eskimos but also against one or more of the forces of nature that rule these parts.
Andre Talbot is happy to educate his former teammates on the scope of the earthly wrath that could be unleashed come kickoff. Talbot, the Toronto-bred receiver, spent nine years as an Argo before he was dealt here in the off-season.
And five games into his career as an Eskimo, he has already witnessed a lightning delay (which halted last week’s Edmonton win over the B.C. Lions for about 40 minutes) and a series of sunny-day showers (“They just swoop in from nowhere,” marvels Talbot).
And don’t get him started about this summer’s crop of Alberta mosquitos, which appear to be giving Winnipeg’s infamous bloodsuckers a run as the CFL’s wickedest vein-tapping menace.
Who says the hermetically sealed Rogers Centre is bad place for football?
“(The mosquitos) are brutal. It’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen such a swarming,” Talbot said. “Last week on the field, guys were just covered in them.”
Insects aside, Edmonton isn’t known for its ability to mount a swarm.
The 1-4 Eskimos are, in the words of coach Richie Hall, “a fragile team.” And their run defence, in particular, ranks last in the league.
So even if Toronto’s anemic passing game doesn’t escape its half-decade-old rut anytime soon, there’s some reason to believe the Argos could find some salvation on the ground on Friday night.
Cory Boyd, the Toronto running back who put up three 100-yard-plus performances in the season’s first four games, is coming off a subpar effort in a blowout loss to Montreal.
On Thursday, not long after the Argos arrived here after a morning flight, Boyd offered a suggestion for returning to his big-gaining ways.
“I guess we’ve got to feed me a little more, get the running game going early in the game,” said Boyd. “I guess that’s how it always starts and we just go downhill from there.”
If that wasn’t exactly an optimistic take on Toronto’s prospects, it fit the tone of the moment. The Eskimos, five days removed from the firing of general manager Danny Maciocia, weren’t exactly crowing in the wake of their only win of the year.
“You talk about (the Argos) being fragile offensively. We have a fragile football team ... It took us five games into the season before we won our first game,” said Hall, who outlined the Edmonton game plan all the same.
“We want to try and make a team one dimensional, and that means taking away the run. They’ve got a great running back there. He runs hard . . . We’ve given up some yards running. We’ve given up some chunks of yards.”
Boyd, for his part, certainly wasn’t sounding overconfident — disingenuous would be a better word for his press briefing.
First, Boyd, who turns 25 on Friday, claimed he has “never really celebrated a birthday before.”
And even if that sounded plausible, he then claimed to be unaware he is currently leading the CFL in rushing yards.
Boyd, mind you, was standing on the turf at Commonwealth Stadium on Thursday when he spoke to the media, where the mosquitos were enjoying a midday buffet that included sportswriter flank (in plentiful supply) and running back calf.
“Even as I’m speaking, I’m getting (eaten) up in the back of my legs,” he said.
So forgive him if he sounded distracted. Boyd, not long after he preached on the evils of the post-touchdown celebration, also acknowledged that, should the Argos conquer the Eskimos and Mother Nature on Friday night, he just might find time to ring in his personal new year.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a win so I can go out with the fellows, enjoy our time, and just have a little champagne or wine,” said Boyd. “Hopefully, some of the opposing team can come and we can all just make it a family affair.”
If Boyd spends Friday night drinking with the opposing team, he’ll be making like a certain six-legged swiller of vital fluid.
Said Kenneth Pettaway, the Eskimos defensive end: “If I had some advice for the Argos, I’d say: ‘Bring lots of bug spray.’ ”
