Pregame notes and lineups: Saturday afternoon baseball in Toronto

A little different lineup with Willie Bloomquist playing in right field. Manager Lloyd McClendon wanted to get Nelson Cruz off his feet after playing right field last night. The spongy turf here at the Rogers Centre is not player friendly. Teams that have come into the building this season have complained that players have had sore legs in the days after. So Cruz will DH today and I won’t be surprised if he’s at DH again on Sunday. The Mariners have six straight days on turf, which is less than ideal for some of the older guys.

The Mariners aren’t taking batting practice on the field because of it. The only activity is individual work. The expectation is that once the Toronto Argonauts leave the stadium in 2016, the team will put in a grass infield for the 2017 season.

Bloomquist got the start over Seth Smith and Brad Miller because he’s had some past success against Mark Buerle – a .455 batting average (2o-for-44) with eight doubles, a triple and a 1.160 OPS. Small sample? Yes. But McClendon is sticking to his platoons. This will be just the second left-handed starter the Mariners have faced in the last 21 games.

Match-ups

Here’s the Mariners numbers vs. lefty Mark Buerhle

Here’s the Blue Jays numbers vs. James Paxton

Probables

Rays have announced their pitching probables. Pretty good pitching matchup on the finale of the road trip

Game notes