The Toronto Blue Jays have experienced some problems in their bid to win a series recently, and they will be out to change that Wednesday night against the visiting Chicago Cubs.
The Blue Jays secured a 5-1 victory over the Cubs in the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday.
Toronto has lost three of its past four series, with a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies last week serving as the exception.
The Cubs continued to struggle. They are 1-3 on their six-game road trip and 2-5 in their last seven contests overall.
The Cubs had their chances on Tuesday but went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners.
The Blue Jays have been able to wriggle out of tight situations in their past two games. They salvaged the finale of their series with the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 on Sunday. In that game the Dodgers hit 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 16 runners.
Ernie Clement belted a three-run home run for Toronto in the fourth inning on Tuesday. To show how things are breaking for the Blue Jays, he missed a bunt sign before launching a first-pitch hanging slider over the wall in left field.
“You’re living right when you’re doing that,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “I’m glad he missed the sign.”
“If you’re going to do that and miss a sign, you had better hit a homer or they’re going to be pretty (angry) at you,” Clement said.
Clement has homered in three consecutive games, including the winner in the ninth inning on Sunday. It is the second time in his career he has homered in three straight games and the first time he has hit four in five games. Over his past 19 games, he is batting .329 (27-for-82) with five homers and 13 RBIs.
“That was the game, to me, is that they got the big hit and we did not,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “The optimism is that we have good hitters, and we have scored a lot of runs this year, and they’ve done a lot of damage this year.”
The Blue Jays are scheduled to start right-hander Kevin Gausman (8-8, 3.58 ERA) on Wednesday. He will be facing the Cubs for the first time since 2022, and he is 3-3 with a 6.10 ERA in seven career games (six starts) against them.
Chicago right-hander Cade Horton (6-3, 3.18) is slated to face Toronto for the first time.
While Toronto used five relievers after Jose Berrios was lifted after 5 1/3 scoreless innings, the Cubs used only two pitchers, which should help the bullpen for the rest of the series.
Javier Assad allowed four runs in four innings in his first start of the season. He had been out since spring training with a strained left oblique. Ben Brown completed the final four innings.
Second baseman Andres Gimenez returned to the Toronto lineup from the injured list (sprained ankle) and was 1-for-3 with a walk.
The Cubs plan to have three catchers on the roster after Miguel Amaya returned from the injured list (strained left oblique). He joins Carson Kelly and former Blue Jay Reese McGuire in the catching trio.
Utility player Jon Berti was designated for assignment.
“Catching is a position that we didn’t want to have to start anew with if something happened,” Counsell said. “Reese has done good with this opportunity.”
The Cubs optioned former Blue Jays reliever Nate Pearson to Triple-A Iowa.