Blue Jays Reveal Probable Pitchers for Key Royals Series
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Coming off a stretch where the Toronto Blue Jays went 8-5 in four straight series against American League East Division opponents, John Schneider's team returns to Rogers Centre to open a homestand with a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals beginning on Tuesday night.
Toronto will enter the series coming off losing two of three to the New York Yankees in the Bronx over the weekend. After an off day on Monday and once the results of the games played were complete, the Blue Jays enter the series with Kansas City two games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the third and final American League wild-card spot.
Toronto kicks off a homestand as the Seattle Mariners come in for a three-game series over the weekend after the Royals series. This will be the first of two series between the Blue Jays and Royals, with Toronto making a stop in Kansas City on their next road trip. Here are the pitching matchups for this series.
Blue Jays Announce Probable Pitchers for Royals Series
This is a pivotal homestand for Toronto, and if they want to remain in the playoff race, they will have to win each series, if not sweep them. Here are the three matchups against the Royals.
Tuesday: Seth Lugo (5-7, 4.71 ERA) vs. Max Scherzer (1-6, 7.40 ERA), 7:07 p.m.
Wednesday: Randy Dobnak (2-1, 1.58 ERA) vs. Shane Bieber (5-2, 4.53 ERA), 7:07 p.m.
Thursday: Noah Cameron (8-8, 4.02 ERA) vs. TBD, 7:07 p.m.
Kansas City is far from being in contention this season, but they will be looking to play spoiler. Scherzer is looking to bounce back from an outing against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 19, where he allowed seven earned runs on five hits over four innings. He has struggled at times this season, but if Toronto is going to get back into the race and overtake three teams for the final spot, they will need Scherzer to be better.
In the second game, Bieber will face one of his bigger starts with Toronto, and he will be looking to continue his good August. In four starts, he has a 2.96 ERA and in three of four starts, he's given up just three runs over 18.2 innings against the Houston Astros, Yankees and Rays. He has 18 strikeouts combined in those outings.
Toronto has yet to announce a starter for the third and final game on Thursday night, which could mean a bullpen game could be on the way for Schneider. If that's the case, the starter won't be announced until after Wednesday night's game. Whoever it is, one thing is clear: at this point in the season, it's all hands on deck in the playoff race.
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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.