The Toronto Blue Jays will look to get more production from its offence as Jose Berrios gets another start against his former team.
Watch live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting with the first pitch scheduled for 7:07 p.m. ET / 4:07 p.m. PT.
This will be the sixth start for Berrios against the Minnesota Twins since being traded to Toronto in 2022. In his five outings against his former team, Berrios is 3-1 with a 4.03 ERA.
This season, the 30-year-old is 13-9, with a 3.72 ERA and 129 strikeouts.
Even if Berrios is able to limit the Twins offence, the Blue Jays bats still need to do their part. Unfortunately, Friday’s series opener saw another game where Toronto was blanked on the scoreboard.
The Blue Jays recorded six hits (although no extra-base hits) off Pablo Lopez but could not generate any runs off the Twins starter and Minnesota’s bullpen took care of the rest.
“You don’t get many shots against him,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said about Lopez. “He’s been pretty good against us, it feels like for a while. But yeah, any time you get a couple guys on you’ve got to cash one in there.”
Toronto will be looking for a better result against Zebby Matthews, who is making his fourth start since being promoted from triple-A. Matthews had a no-decision in his last outing against the St. Louis Cardinals, where he allowed one run on four hits through five innings.
Toronto has not had an easy time against Minnesota this season as the Twins are 3-1 in the season series.
Over the Blue Jays’ last 10 games, the team is 7-3, registering a .230 batting average, 2.38 ERA, outscored opponents by 12 runs.