Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Easton Lucas is scheduled to put his unblemished record on the line Monday night against the visiting Atlanta Braves.
Lucas is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA after his first two starts of the season — the first starts of his major league career. The 28-year-old will be making his 17th major league appearance.
“You hope it’s one of those feel-good stories, right?” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “He’s done a really good job of taking advantage of every resource available and understanding, at this point in his career, how his stuff works and really how good he can be.
“I’ve said it before, we’ve liked him since the first time we saw him. He’s got a little bit of momentum and he’s running with it. It happens at different times for people.”
Lucas has allowed four hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings over the two starts. He has yet to face the Braves in his career.
“I have a lot of confidence in where I’m throwing my pitches,” Lucas said. “That was kind of something that clicked at the end of spring training. I was struggling to command my fastball last year and just dealing with the adrenaline. So this year, I’ve focused on being under control and commanding my fastball. After that, it opens up everything else.”
Lucas was claimed off waivers from the Detroit Tigers last August.
The struggling Braves are scheduled to start right-hander Grant Holmes (0-1, 4.00). He has faced the Blue Jays on one occasion, allowing three runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning of relief last season.
The Blue Jays are coming off a 4-5 road trip that ended on Sunday with a 7-6 win in 10 innings over the Baltimore Orioles.
Toronto split two games at Baltimore after the series opener on Friday was postponed.
First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has yet to hit a home run this season after going 2-for-5 with one RBI (his seventh) on Sunday. He also committed a two-run error.
Also of concern for Toronto is George Springer, who left the game on Sunday with what was described as left wrist discomfort, the result of swings while striking out in the fifth inning. X-rays were negative.
“A little bit of a zinger, best possible outcome so far” Schneider said.
Springer is batting .375 with a 1.040 OPS, two homers and 10 RBIs.
The Braves still are trying to get untracked after losing 8-3 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday in the rubber match of a three-game series. The Braves are 4-11 after starting the season 0-7.
“I’m glass half full because we’ve got too much baseball to play,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We’ve seen it the last few years, we can turn this thing around and run off a good streak, too. So we just have to hang in there and compartmentalize it and take it a day at a time and go out and win a game tomorrow.”
Braves first baseman Matt Olson said one focus in on winning series.
“That’s the name of the game,” Olson said. “That’s the mindset we want to be in. Had a chance to (Sunday) and just got away there at the end. Really, that’s the baseline of it. We’ve got to continue to try to win series. Get to Toronto, have a good series, bring it back home, get it rolling.”
–Field Level Media
