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TORONTO — Canadian right-hander Mike Soroka says his start Tuesday for the Atlanta Braves at the Rogers Centre will be like making a second debut.
The 20-year-old from Calgary will be making his fifth major league start Marcus Davenport Color Rush Jersey , but Tuesday night in the opener of a two-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays he will be pitching against the team he grew up watching and with friends in attendance.
Soroka (2-1, 2.57 ERA) will be facing Blue Jays left-hander Jaime Garcia (2-5, 5.71), who is 3-1 with a 3.62 ERA in eight career starts against Atlanta.
It also will be a return for first-year Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos, who was the Blue Jays GM from October 2009 through 2015.
“Even though I’m from the other side of Canada, it’s the one team you grew up watching,” Soroka told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’ll be pretty special.”
He has pitched before at the Rogers Centre, as a 15-year-old in a tournament.
“It’s almost like a second debut of sorts,” Soroka said. “Just get out there, knowing that a bunch of friends are going to be coming there, a lot of friends who’ve been Blue Jays fans for a long time too. … I’m just going to be familiar with the Rogers Centre Saquon Barkley Color Rush Jersey , so that’s going to be cool too. And I’ll be out there on a mound I’ve been on before too, so that’s pretty awesome.”
Soroka is coming off his best major league outing. After spending a month on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation, he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of a 2-0 win over the New York Mets Wednesday. He left after 6 1/3 innings, allowing one hit and one walk and adding four strikeouts.
Soroka does not expect to feel more excitement in this start Tuesday than he did in his previous four.
“There’s a certain amount of amped up you can have in the big leagues,” Soroka said. “I don’t think I’ll be any more amped up than I was my last four, especially because it’s a new thing right now. I don’t think I’m running short on adrenalin.”
The Braves (42-29) are in first place in the National League East. They have won two in a row and six of their past eight after defeating the San Diego Padres 4-1 Sunday.
The Blue Jays (33-38) have won three in a row and seven of their past 10 games after completing a three-game sweep Sunday with an 8-6 win over the Washington Nationals, who are second in the NL East.
The Blue Jays have won seven straight home games for the first time since July 2-8, 2016. After struggling at home earlier in the season, they are now 19-19 at the Rogers Centre. They are 6-2 against the NL this season.
Toronto right fielder Randal Grichuk, an early-season disappointment who also spent time on the disabled list with a right knee sprain, had two solo home runs and four RBIs Sunday in going 3-for-3 with a walk. He has hit five homers in his past 12 games.
“I feel like we’ve found a lot of consistency when we’ve been playing here lately Sam Darnold Color Rush Jersey ,” Grichuk said of the Blue Jays’ recent success at home. “Obviously that (0-3) Tampa Bay series (against the Rays at Tropicana Field) threw a wrench at us, but I feel like we’re swinging the bat well, and when our pitchers go out and give us a chance to win, we’ve been doing a good job of being able to score and get some leads. Hopefully that just continues.”
Another early-season disappointment, Toronto second baseman Devon Travis was 2-for-4 with a double Sunday and is batting .345 (20-for-58) with three homers and eight RBIs in his past 19 games.
The timing of a possible return from the disabled list of third baseman Josh Donaldson (tight left calf) is not known yet.
The Braves, meanwhile, will have catcher Kurt Suzuki available for the game Tuesday. He was struck in the head on a backswing during the second inning Sunday at SunTrust Park and left the game. Tests indicated that he did not have a concussion.
“It was kind of a precautionary thing,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He got hit good. The doctors wanted to look at him and I’m sure he wanted to come back out. But something like that is not something you want to mess with.”
SAN DIEGO — The Pirates pitching homecoming continues Saturday night at Petco Park.
On Friday, two San Diego County natives — and former high school teammates — pitched for Pittsburgh in downtown San Diego. Starter Joe Musgrove and reliever Steven Brault were raised a half-hour’s drive to the east of Petco Park.
Saturday night, the focus shifts to northern San Diego County as Rancho Bernardo High grad Trevor Williams starts for the Pirates against his hometown club.
While Musgrove and Brault were facing the Padres for the first time, the 26-year-old Williams pitched six innings against the Padres on May 20 in Pittsburgh. He gave up four runs on four hits — including a two-run homer to Christian Villanueva — in six innings but did not get a decision in a game won by the Padres Dallas Goedert Color Rush Jersey , 8-5.
The right-handed Williams (6-5, 4.03 ERA in 16 starts) will be opposed by left-handed rookie Joey Lucchesi (3-3, 3.57 ERA). Lucchesi had just gone on the disabled list with a strained glute muscle when the Padres visited Pittsburgh in May.
Williams started the season with three straight wins but is 1-3 with a 6.09 ERA over his last seven starts. However, he allowed only one hit with seven strikeouts in seven scoreless innings in a 1-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers two starts ago on June 18. That happened to be his only win since May 15.
Saturday night will be his eighth road start of the season. He is 2-2 with a 4.42 ERA on the road. But he is 0-2 with a 7.23 ERA in his last four road starts after opening the season with a 2-0 mark and a 1.50 ERA in his first three road starts.
Williams is coming off a loss in his most recent start against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Sunday afternoon. Williams gave up three runs on five hits in six innings while the Pirates were being shutout.
Lucchesi, 25, will be making his third start since returning from the disabled list June 20.
His first outing on the day he was activated lasted only 1 2/3 innings as he gave up four runs on three hits — including two homers — and two walks in just 1 2/3 innings against Oakland. On June 26, Lucchesi allowed no runs and only one hit and two walks with four strikeouts in Texas, but came out of the game after four innings when he reached his pre-set limit of 70 pitches.
Padres manager Andy Green said Lucchesi now has the green light to go deeper into Saturday’s game if the performance merits it.
Saturday will be Lucchesi’s 12th start around his 33-game stay on the disabled list. At the time of his injury, Lucchesi was 3-2 with a 3.23 ERA in nine starts – although his ERA had climbed in five of his six starts before going in the disabled list. The Padres are 4-7 in games started by Lucchesi — who has given up 10 home runs in 53 innings, accounting for 15 of the 23 runs he has allowed.