Blue Jays Announce Probable Pitchers for Key Royals Series in Heated Wild-Card Race
In this story:
It has been one month since the MLB trade deadline passed, and the Toronto Blue Jays are right in the thick of the American League wild-card race. Beginning a key early-September road trip against the Cleveland Guardians this week, the Blue Jays had a chance to gain some ground in the crowded wild-card race.
After dropping the opener, Toronto rallied, winning the last two games to close within half a game of the Guardians for the final American League playoff berth. They are tied with the Texas Rangers at 70-71 heading into a weekend series against the Kansas City Royals on the second stop of their road trip, before they close it out next week against the Athletics in West Sacramento.
It has been pointed out that the Blue Jays have an opportunity to make up some ground in the race for the postseason and John Schneider's club is seeking revenge against the Royals after they dropped two out of three at home in August. That's not something that can happen with Kansas City sitting 15 games under .500 this season. This is a series that the Blue Jays need to win and here are the pitching probables for what is a sneaky-big series.
Blue Jays Announce Starters for Royals Series
Schneider will be sending two veterans to the mound to begin the series against a Royals team that played spoiler this week in a series at home against the Miami Marlins. They avoided a sweep and dealt the Marlins a loss on Thursday night, dropping them three games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League wild-card race.
Friday: Jameson Taillon (2-6, 5.68 ERA) vs. Daniel Lynch (4-4, 3.06 ERA), 8:10 p.m.
Saturday: Mac Scherzer (2-7, 6.16 ERA) vs. Seth Lugo (6-8, 5.03 ERA), 7:10 p.m.
Sunday: TBD vs. Randy Dobnak (2-3, 2.65 ERA), 2:10 p.m.
Toronto will begin the series by sending veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon to the mound as he is coming off an injured list stint with right forearm tendinitis. Acquired from the Chicago Cubs at the trade deadline, he will likely be on a pitch count in the game and that could be an underlying storyline as the series goes along, with the Blue Jays yet to announce a starter for Sunday's series finale.
On Saturday, Max Scherzer will get the ball in what will be a big start for the 42-year-old. He was good last month against the Royals, going five innings and allowing four hits and two runs. In his start last weekend against the Seattle Mariners at home, he went seven innings, allowing one run and striking out 10.
As bad as things have been this season for the Blue Jays, they are right in the thick of the wild-card race for the third and final spot. Anything short of two out of three games this weekend against the Royals would be disappointing.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Scott Roche has covered both college and professional sports for nearly three decades for various outlets. Scott has covered the MLB, NHL, and college sports and he is someone always looking for a good rumor, no matter which sport it is.