The season series will be on the line Thursday afternoon when the visiting Toronto Blue Jays and the Cleveland Guardians clash in the rubber match of a three-game set.
The Blue Jays squared the three-game set with an 11-0 victory on Wednesday night as starter Dylan Cease gave up only four hits over six innings to improve to 10-5. Toronto holds a 3-2 lead in the season series, with head-to-head records being the first tiebreaker in determining a playoff spot.
It could be significant because Cleveland (70-69) leads Toronto (69-71) by 1 1/2 games in a jammed race for the third wild-card spot in the American League.
Right-hander Tanner Bibee (5-14, 3.88 ERA) will start for Cleveland on Thursday. He is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in four career starts against Toronto.
The Blue Jays will counter with Jose Soriano (11-7, 3.45). The right-hander is 3-2 with a 3.33 ERA in five career games (four starts) against Cleveland.
Toronto hopes first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is showing signs of consistently hitting for power, which has been lacking all season.
Guerrero went 3-for-4 on Wednesday with a three-run homer and a season-best five RBIs. He has only eight home runs, 53 RBIs and a .693 on-base percentage plus slugging percentage.
“I feel like I’ve been saying that. … it could be a swing, could be a game,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “You never know where the mental game takes you in this long season. Hopefully, that’s a good feeling for Vladdy tonight and into tomorrow. You just have to keep stacking those days together. As good as it was today, you’ve got to come on a quick turnaround tomorrow and do it again against a tough pitcher.”
The Guardians didn’t help themselves on Wednesday.
Second baseman Travis Bazzana let Brett Bateman’s leadoff single zip past him. Bateman scored the game’s first run on a Guerrero double.
In Toronto’s five-run second inning, Bazzana was late covering second base on George Springer’s grounder. Shortstop Angel Genao could have thrown to first for the third out but instead decided to go to second for the forceout. Genao’s throw went over the head of the tardy Bazzana and into the outfield for a two-run error. Guerrero followed with his homer.
“We’ve got young players learning, and it’s unfortunate that it led to that, but that’s a ball where we have to get one out there,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “You know what, it happens, and it looked like Travis was a little bit late getting there.
“But again, these are plays we’re going to learn from. These are plays that we’re going to continue to talk about and get better from.”
Genao, who was making his fourth start at shortstop, took the blame.
“My first thought was trying to go to second base, and obviously I got out of sync,” he said. “I mean, I take responsibility. I should have made that play, so that’s on me.”
Genao also has had a positive impact on this series. He hit a key two-run homer as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning in a 6-1 Cleveland victory on Tuesday and stayed in the game, making a sparkling play at second base in the ninth.
He also has played third base since his promotion from Triple-A on Aug. 8.
“I really like the way he’s attacked playing three different positions because he hasn’t done that much coming up,” Vogt said.
–Field Level Media
