The Toronto Blue Jays will count on ace Dylan Cease on Sunday afternoon in the rubber match of their crucial three-game series with the visiting Baltimore Orioles.
The Blue Jays won 7-3 on Saturday after losing 7-4 on Friday.
Toronto (74-75) has a 5-4 lead in the season series with Baltimore (72-77), with head-to-head records being the first tiebreaker for teams trying to reach the playoffs.
With the Cleveland Guardians losing 4-3 on Saturday to the Minnesota Twins, the Blue Jays are one game out of the third American League wild-card berth, and Baltimore is two games behind Toronto.
The two teams will meet again for three games in Baltimore in the final week of the season.
The Blue Jays had considered taking advantage of their off day on Thursday to pitch Cease (10-5, 2.40 ERA) on Saturday. But considering the right-hander’s workload and dip in velocity on Monday in a no-decision on the road against the Athletics, it was decided to start him on Sunday.
“I think it’s just late in the season,” Cease said. “I’ve got to kind of roll with what I’ve got and figure out how I can maybe maximize it a little better.”
Cease allowed five runs (four earned) in five innings to the A’s in West Sacramento, Calif., on Monday. The Athletics stole five bases with Cease on the mound and went on to win 6-5 in walk-off fashion.
“I wish I had a little more focus on that,” Cease said of the stolen bases. “I kind of just let it happen. They definitely took advantage.”
Cease is 3-1 with a 3.89 ERA in seven career starts against the Orioles.
Baltimore is expected to counter with left-hander Trevor Rogers (10-9, 4.15 ERA), who is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in four career starts against Toronto.
Starting with two innings from opener Spencer Miles, the Blue Jays used seven pitchers on Saturday.
Because of a poor three-inning start from Kyle Bradish, who allowed five runs, Baltimore used five pitchers.
“I mean, terrible,” said Bradish, who is 0-5 in nine starts since his last win on July 22. “Giving up way too much damage, walking guys. Just putting our team in a big hole to start the game more times than not.”
The Orioles are in a more precarious position than the Blue Jays with 13 games to play.
“If we want to be in the playoffs, we’re playing playoff games right now,” Orioles catcher Carlos Narvaez said. “The mentality has to be to win every game. That’s why it’s very frustrating for everybody here — but from my end, too. Like, we needed this game. We cannot go back now. We got 13 left. It’s on us. It’s in our hands. It’s frustrating, man.”
Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said his team will have no difficulty re-focusing after the loss on Saturday.
“Our guys are not going to dwell on it, turn the page fast, because tomorrow’s a day game, and Dylan Cease is on the mound, which is not an easy task,” Albernaz said. “But our guys are ready for it. But yeah, we can’t dwell on it, and they won’t dwell on it. We’ve got to turn the page fast.”
Baltimore’s Pete Alonso hit his 35th home run of the season, and 299th of his career, on Saturday. He also is one RBI short of hitting the 100 mark for the fifth time in his career.
Toronto got homers from Alejandro Kirk and Brett Bateman, who also hit his first career major league homer in the ninth inning Friday.
Rudy Martin Jr., 30, who made his major league debut as a pinch runner on Friday for Toronto, started in left field Saturday and was 0-for-2 with a walk. He made his first appearance in the minors in 2015 after the Kansas City Royals selected him in the 25th round of the 2014 MLB Draft.
–Field Level Media
