Squeeze Play

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It'll be a heated battle between two guys with initials for first names tonight when right-hander A.J. Burnett takes the hill for the Toronto Blue Jays (13-12), opening a three-game series against C.C. Sabathia and the Cleveland Indians (14-8) at 7:05pm ET.

The Tribe is 5-0 when Sabathia has started this season, but the lefty has not gotten a W since defeating the Chicago White Sox on April 15th. He is a career 2-2 with a 4.25 ERA in four home starts against the Jays.

Pitching at Jacobs Field has been rather difficult for Burnett, who is 0-2 in two career starts there, allowing 14 runs with a .449 opponent batting average in 11.1 innings. He is 1-2 with a 7.27 ERA in three career starts against the Indians.

The designated hitter spot is reserved for players who like to smash the ball often. However, Cleveland's DH, Travis Hafner is hitting .107 (3-for-28) at home this season. He's batting a team-high .338 otherwise and is a career 4-for-9 with three homers against the Jays at home.

Toronto is on a bit of a roll, having won five of seven after a season-high five-game skid.

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Right-hander Livan Hernández and the Arizona Diamondbacks (16-11) will take on righty Brad Penny and the Los Angeles Dodgers (15-11) at 10:10pm ET tonight in the second contest of a three-game series. The D'backs beat the Dodgers 9-1 with a season-high 17 hits yesterday for their second six-game winning streak this year.

Orlando Hudson continued his dominating performance with a 3-for-5 night - his 12th multi-hit game of the season. The second baseman is batting .352, and has reached base in all 27 games with a .385 lifetime average against Dodgers pitching.

Los Angeles is 4-1 in games that Penny starts, as he is a career 6-2 with a 2.03 ERA in 12 starts against Arizona.

Hernández went 1-1 with a 4.05 ERA in three starts against the Dodgers last season, but should watch out for shortstop Rafael Furcal, who is hitting just .203 this year, but is a career .345 hitter with four homers against him.

[MLB]