Two of the best teams in baseball in April, the Toronto Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates both enter this weekend series looking to return to their winning ways.
The surprising Pirates fell well short in a measuring-stick series against the MLB-leading Tampa Bay Rays, getting swept in Florida this week.
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, started a nine-game road trip by losing all four games in Boston against the division rival Red Sox.
A healthy chunk of Blue Jays fans should greet the team at gorgeous PNC Park as Toronto tries to get back on track.
Here’s a look at the Blue Jays-Pirates series.
Friday, 6:35 p.m. ET / 3:35 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Chris Bassitt (3-2, 5.18 ERA) vs. Pittsburgh LHP Rich Hill (3-2, 4.18 ERA), Sportsnet ONE
Saturday, 6:35 p.m. ET / 3:35 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Jose Berrios (2-3, 5.29 ERA) vs. Pittsburgh RHP Johan Oviedo (2-2, 4.78 ERA), Sportsnet ONE
Sunday, 1:35 p.m. ET / 10:35 a.m. PT: Toronto LHP Yusei Kikuchi (4-0, 4.02 ERA) vs. Pittsburgh RHP Roansy Contreras (3-2, 4.09 ERA), Sportsnet
All games on Sportsnet NOW and Sportsnet 590 The Fan.
The Blue Jays (18-14) have lost five games in a row for the first time in 10 months. The skid comes in the immediate aftermath of a five-game winning streak.
Starting pitching and the bullpen, major strengths in the win streak, have done a 180 during this ugly stretch.
Top starter Kevin Gausman was looking to stop the bleeding on Thursday for his team, but he didn’t even through the fourth inning – giving up seven runs on 10 hits in an 11-5 loss.
In the last turn through the rotation, no starter has made it through six innings.
Despite that, the Blue Jays really were in every one of the four previous games before Thursday until the late innings – when the bullpen struggled.
As a result, the bullpen is taxed – with the team completing a stretch of 10 games in as many days this weekend.
Reliever Zach Pop, who has not been at his best recently, also limped off the mound with right hamstring discomfort on Thursday, so expect a new look to the bullpen before the Pittsburgh series.
The Blue Jays have now slipped to fourth in the AL East, eight games behind the Rays and just one game ahead of the last-place Yankees.
The NL Central-leading Pirates (20-12) have lost a season-high four games in a row following a three-game sweep at the hands of the Rays.
Tampa starter Zach Eflin pitched seven scoreless innings in a 3-2 win in the series finale on Thursday. The Pirates scored two in the ninth to close the gap, but Connor Joe struck out with two men on to end the comeback bid.
It was a frustrating series for the Pirates, who saw manager Derek Shelton ejected on Wednesday for arguing about the pitch clock and then had issues with the strike zone on Thursday.
“It felt one-sided,” Andrew McCutchen said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, after the Pirates struck out 13 times, seven looking. “You don’t ever want to feel like that when you’re out there, but [Thursday] just didn’t feel like it was a game that was supposed to be won by us.”
There was troubling news early in Thursday’s loss when starter Vince Velasquez exited after three innings due to right elbow discomfort. He leads all Pirates starters with a 3.06 ERA.
Since a 16-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Saturday, the Pirates have been outscored 22-5 in four games.
The good news for the Pirates is NL Central teams have lost, astoundingly, a combined 18 games in a row. Pittsburgh is 1.5 games ahead of the second-place Milwaukee Brewers.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was a bright spot for the Blue Jays in Boston.
The first baseman had two homers and three multi-hit games.
Guerrero Jr. was 7-for-18 (.389) in the four games
Pirates reliever Colin Holderman became the first MLBer this season to throw an immaculate inning in the seventh inning of Pittsburgh’s loss to Tampa on Thursday.
Holderman struck out Taylor Wells, Luke Raley and Christian Bethancourt on nine pitches. He is the fourth Pirate to throw an immaculate inning in franchise history.
The Pirates have been a distant third on the city's pro sports pecking order in recent years with the Penguins and Steelers being two of the most consistent franchises in their respective leagues.
But with the Penguins and Steelers both coming off rare playoff misses, the Pirates have become the toast of the town – at least for now.
The Pirates haven’t finished with a winning record since 2018 and last made the playoffs in 2015.
Former Blue Jays executive Ben Cherington is general manager for a Pirates team trying to beat the odds this year.
Spotrac has the Pirates with the fourth-lowest payroll (just over $75 million) in MLB.
For much of the year, the Pirates have had just four every-day starters – third baseman Ke’Bryan Haynes, DH McCutchen, outfielder Bryan Reynolds and first baseman Carlos Santana.
After that, the Pirates match up against lefties and righties.
They’ve feasted on left-handed pitching, with the fourth-best OPS in the bigs, while they are 10th against righties.
The Pirates are the 12th team for Friday’s starter – the 43-year-old Hill, who signed a one-year, $8-million deal with the Pirates.
The oldest active player in MLB, Hill spent all of last year with Boston, but didn’t face the Jays.
His last game against Toronto was in July 2021 when he started for Tampa, giving up three runs on four hits in five innings and taking the loss.
The Blue Jays have an off-day Monday. They head across Pennsylvania to face Canadian manager Rob Thomson and the reigning NL champion Philadelphia Phillies in a two-game series starting Tuesday.
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