In four June starts before Thursday’s series opener with the Philadelphia Phillies in Citizens Bank Park, Tanner Roark went (1-2) with a 6.64 ERA, nine walks (3.98 BB/9), 18 Ks (7.97 K/9), and a .310/.378/.540 line against in 20 1⁄3 innings pitched.
Roark had failed to make it through the fifth in each of his previous two outings, going just four innings in Toronto (8 H, 2 BB, 4 ER) and just 4 1⁄3 against Philadelphia last time out (7 H, 4 BB, 6 ER), which led to the right-hander spending some time watching some video from the 2016 season in the clubhouse to try to find some clue as to what was behind his recent struggles.