The AL's ERA leader stands in the way as the Los Angeles Angels bid for their first four-game sweep at Toronto.
The Angels have fared very well in the past against Mark Buehrle, who will try to become the majors' first seven-game winner Monday night for the Blue Jays.
Los Angeles (19-17) cruised to a 9-3 win Sunday to move within one game of this unprecedented sweep north of the border. Hank Conger had a career-high five RBIs with a three-run homer and Jered Weaver went 6 1-3 effective innings.
Now the Angels must face the surging Buehrle (6-1, 1.91 ERA), who threw seven stellar innings Wednesday to earn a 10-0 victory over Philadelphia. He's succeeding with a fastball reportedly clocked below 85 mph.
"I don't want to ask too many questions, I don't want to try to figure out what's going on," Buehrle said. "I'm just going to roll with it and keep it as long as I can."
The left-hander has a 3.57 ERA at home compared to 0.92 on the road as he tries to improve on his poor record versus Los Angeles. He's 2-8 with a 4.86 ERA in 21 career regular-season starts versus the Angels, and his 4.95 ERA is his second-worst against an AL club.
Buehrle leads all active pitchers with 436 starts and Albert Pujols is 12th in games (1,994), but these veterans have never met in a regular-season game. Pujols singled off Buehrle in the 2005 All-Star game and grounded out against him in the 2009 contest.
The Angels have won every game in this series despite few contributions from Pujols and Mike Trout, who have combined to go 3 for 26.
Less-heralded hitters have done damage with Howie Kendrick 6 for 11 with four runs scored in the series and Erick Aybar 6 for 16.
Los Angeles has won six straight and 10 of 11 over Toronto and seven in a row in Canada.
''They've been taking it to us,'' Toronto manager John Gibbons said.
The Blue Jays (18-20) lead the AL with 50 homers, but the Angels have outhomered them 4-1 in this series.
Brett Lawrie could return to the Toronto lineup Monday after missing six games with a right hamstring injury. Lawrie has 14 hits in his last 32 at-bats.
He's 3 for 11 against Angels starter C.J. Wilson (4-2, 3.21), who is 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA in his last three outings. Wilson gave up three runs in eight innings in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the New York Yankees.
The left-hander is 2-2 with a 3.68 ERA as a starter against the Blue Jays. Jose Bautista, Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion are all hitting .333 against Wilson.
Bautista went 0 for 4 on Sunday, marking the first time this season he failed to reach safely.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia returned Sunday after missing two games to attend his daughter's college graduation.
Third baseman Ian Stewart left after he was hit on the left hand on a swinging strike in the seventh. He was replaced by former Toronto infielder John McDonald. X-rays were negative and Scioscia said it was too soon to say whether Stewart would land on the disabled list.
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