Blue Jays Announce Probable Starters vs. Yankees to Close Out Homestand
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After taking three out of four games at home from the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays will look to win another series when they welcome the New York Yankees to Rogers Centre for a three-game weekend series. In the fast and ever-changing American League wild-card race, Toronto is just two games back of the Detroit Tigers for the third and final spot beginning the weekend series.
This is the second of four consecutive series for John Schneider's team against AL East opponents. After Sunday’s game, the Blue Jays will travel to Tampa Bay next week for a series against the Rays. Following that, they will visit Yankee Stadium next weekend before returning home.
Despite trading away Kevin Gausman and Dalton Varsho, the team is still in contention for a wild-card spot. Here are the probable pitching matchups for this important series for Toronto.
Blue Jays Announce Probable Starters vs. Yankees
If the Blue Jays are going to win another series, they are going to have to earn it against two of the Yankees' top pitchers, Gerrit Cole and Cam Schlittler.
Fri., Aug 14 • 7:15 PM EDT: Shane Bieber (3-2, 5.48 ERA) vs. Gerrit Cole (6-5, 3.35 ERA)
Sat., Aug 15 • 3:07 PM EDT: TBD vs. Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.21 ERA)
Sun., Aug 16 • 1:37 PM EDT: Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.40 ERA) vs. Ryan Weathers (5-7, 3.69 ERA)
Cole has been hit or miss this season for the Yankees and manager Aaron Boone. The veteran is returning from an injury and is looking to once again headline a rotation that has dealt with its fair share of injuries. Speaking of injuries, the Blue Jays have yet to announce an official starter for Saturday's game. The turn in the rotation would belong to newly acquired right-hander Jameson Taillon; however, he exited his last start against the Red Sox with an injury.
Schneider has his best possible option lined up to finish the series on Sunday in Cease. The 30-year-old has been lights out as of late, but in his last start against Boston on Tuesday night, he lasted just five innings, allowing five hits and three runs as the Red Sox waited him out and quickly got his pitch count up. However, his teammates rallied from a 3-1 deficit to get him off the hook for a sixth loss of the season.
Despite trading away two key players at the deadline, the Blue Jays are hanging around and winning series. If they can continue that trend against the Yankees, then they just might be a factor in the wild-card race as things heat up in the second half of August and into September.
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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.