HOME OPENER- April 9th-11th- Kansas City Royals (2-4) @ Toronto Blue Jays (3-2)

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Series Preview

VS.

The Official Site of The Toronto Blue Jays: Homepage
The Official Site of The Kansas City Royals: Homepage


PROJECTED STARTERS
GAME 1
Jays- AJ Burnett Season: (0-1) 27.00 ERA Career: (59-59) 3.81 ERA
Royals- Odalis Perez Season: (0-1) 6.75 ERA Career: (58-60) 4.34 ERA

GAME 2
Jays- Josh Towers Season: (0-0) 0.00 ERA Career: (40-45) 4.89 ERA
Royals- Zack Greinke Season: (0-1) 1.29 ERA Career: (14-29) 4.90 ERA

GAME 3
Jays- Gustavo Chacin Season: (0-0) 4.50 ERA Career: (23-14) 4.06 ERA
Royals- Jorge De La Rosa Season: (1-0) 1.29 ERA Career: (8-11) 5.66 ERA

Jays Projected Game 1 lineup
1. Reed Johnson
2. Lyle Overbay
3. Vernon Wells
4. Frank Thomas
5. Alex Rios
6. Jason Smith
7. Aaron Hill
8. Gregg Zaun/Jason Phillips?
9. Royce Clayton

Players to watch
Jason Phillips is 2-for-6 with two doubles and two RBis in his career against Perez, and Johnson is 2-for-3.
DeJesus reached base 10 times in the three-game series against the Tigers.

-The Jays are 159-159 all-time against the Royals, and were 4-3 against them in 2006.

MY PREDICTION- Jays sweep the series, Ryan picks up 2 saves. Wells will be the best player.

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Game 1 Preview

AJ Burnett (0-1) 27.00 ERA

VS.


Odalis Perez (0-1) 6.75 ERA

The Official Site of The Toronto Blue Jays: News: Toronto Blue Jays News

Monday marks the beginning of the Blue Jays' 31st home schedule, the end of a long, chilly road trip and a chance to roost at home for the next 10 games.

In reality, Toronto has been gone seven days. Reed Johnson seemed to think it was much, much longer.

"We've been on a road trip for the last month and a half," the left fielder said. "I feel like we're still in Florida from Spring Training."

Which makes a certain amount of sense, as the Jays wrapped up a three-game series against the Devil Rays on Sunday, just half an hour southeast of Toronto's spring home of Dunedin. Toronto took two of three games from Tampa Bay, including a 6-3 victory on Sunday to head north on a high note.

Toronto has a wide array of pregame festivities planned at Rogers Centre. Invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch are Ernie Whitt and Alan Ashby, members of the inaugural 1977 Jays lineup. Canadian band The Trews will perform the national anthems, and General Motors of Canada has sponsored a new car giveaway, so fans are encouraged to arrive early to avoid traffic congestion.

Once the game begins, however, Toronto plans on getting down to business. Manager John Gibbons said it will be nice to finally get some home cooking. The opener is just another game at the end of it all, he said, but the hoopla surrounding it is something special.

"There's always that little adrenaline rush that you get," he said. "The fans are cheering for you, not against you, and that always helps, and puts pressure on the other team a little bit."

Toronto's A.J. Burnett has a bit to prove after lasting just over two innings into an extra-inning loss to the Tigers that drained the bullpen. Burnett was touched for six runs in the contest and hooked before he could record an out in the third inning.

He gave himself a scathing review afterward, saying his outing was "unacceptable" and that he was "embarrassed" after not being able to get loose on the chilly day.

Burnett has a decent chance of redeeming himself based on track record alone, as the right-hander is 6-2 on his home turf in Toronto, and carries a 3.34 ERA while holding opponents to a .251 average against him.

He's faced Kansas City just twice in his career and come away with an 0-1 record and 6.23 ERA, but has fanned nine Royals in 13 innings pitched.

"The key thing is," Gibbons said, "that there's optimism in the whole country. We're the only team in the country up there. We're a very good team at home, and we'll make the fans proud."

Kansas City will send Odalis Perez to the mound for his second start of the year. Perez, a southpaw, held his own during a 7-1 loss to the Red Sox, but eventually surrendered four runs on five hits and three walks. He's 2-1 in three career starts (19 1/3 innings) against the Blue Jays, with a 3.26 ERA.

The Jays are 159-159 all-time against the Royals, and were 4-3 against them in 2006.