Toronto @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 29, 2015 ) Philadelphia 2, Toronto 8

The Toronto Blue Jays spent the weekend in a direct battle with their closest competition for the American League East title and came out on the short end. The Blue Jays will try to keep the intensity up when they take a step down in competition by visiting the basement-dwelling Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a two-game interleague set on Tuesday.

Toronto salvaged the finale of a three-game series against the New York Yankees over the weekend but still surrendered their lead in the AL East as the offense took a small step back. The Blue Jays, who lead the majors in runs scored, totaled seven in the three-game series and failed to homer in the first two after sending out at least one blast in each of the previous 12 contests. The Phillies came out of the All-Star break strong and appeared determined to at least avoid the worst record in the majors, but losses in five of six to end their road trip again has the team below all others (46-72). Philadelphia will try to end a three-game slide behind rookie Aaron Nola while Toronto counters with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SNET (Toronto), CSN Philadelphia

PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH R.A. Dickey (7-10, 3.96 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Aaron Nola (3-1, 4.25)

Dickey is 4-0 with six quality starts in his last six turns and allowed three runs and six hits in six innings to beat Oakland on Wednesday. The 40-year-old had surrendered a total of one earned run over 22 innings in his previous three outings. That stretch began against Philadelphia on July 29, when Dickey yielded a pair of unearned runs and scattered seven hits over eight innings to earn the win.

Nola got some help from his offense at Arizona on Wednesday and earned the win despite allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk in five innings. The LSU product only notched two strikeouts in that outing, marking his lowest total in five major-league starts. Nola is facing Toronto for the first time but made his debut against an AL East squad on July 21, when he held Tampa Bay to one run in six frames.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Blue Jays optioned LHP Aaron Loup to Triple-A Buffalo following Sunday’s contest.

2. Philadelphia 2B Chase Utley, who is the subject of several trade rumors, is 13-for-26 with five doubles and a home run in seven games since coming off the disabled list.

3. Toronto RF Jose Bautista hit safely in 11 of the last 12 games and has five homers in that span.

PREDICTION: Blue Jays 6, Phillies 2