Cleveland @ Toronto preview
Rogers Centre
Last Meeting ( Jun 23, 2024 ) Toronto 5, Cleveland 6
The Toronto Blue Jays are finally hitting home runs, and they aim to continue the trend Friday night in the opener of a three-game series against the visiting Cleveland Guardians.
The Blue Jays hit two more home runs on Thursday, including a three-run blast by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the eighth inning of a 4-2 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox.
They slammed three homers on Wednesday, when they overcame a 6-0 deficit to defeat the Red Sox 7-6 in 10 innings. The Blue Jays took two of three from the Red Sox and lead the season series with their AL East rivals 5-2.
"It's big to win a series against a division opponent that is swinging the bat pretty well," Toronto manager John Schneider said. "These last two nights ... I hoped it gave us a bit of momentum. I think Vlad took that a little bit further."
The series win came after a 1-5 road trip.
"I'm obviously feeling good right now," said Guerrero, who also hit a two-run homer in the 10-2 loss on Tuesday. "We are coming off a difficult week for us and it was hard, a hard stretch. It's a difficult schedule, too, but we're here right now and we're getting better. Things are turning around, especially with us beating a team like Boston, a great team. That says a lot about us."
Daulton Varsho, who played his first three games of the season in the series after returning from shoulder surgery, has homered in two successive games.
The lack of power has been a problem for the Blue Jays this season. Despite this recent flurry, they still have the second-fewest homers in the majors, 21.
The Guardians are coming off a 4-3, 10-inning win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday that completed a 6-4 homestand.
Toronto is scheduled to start right-hander Chris Bassitt (2-2, 2.62 ERA) on Friday. He is 1-3 with a 3.79 ERA in six career starts against the Guardians.
Cleveland is expected to start left-hander Logan Allen (1-2, 4.21), who is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in three starts against Toronto.
The Guardians' rain-interrupted win on Thursday had a special meaning for third baseman Jose Ramirez.
He singled home the tying run in the 10th inning, notched his 250th career steal and scored on Angel Martinez's pinch-hit single.
Ramírez became the first player in club history with at least 250 homers and 250 stolen bases. His 250 steals rank fourth in team history and his 260 homers rank second to Jim Thome's 337.
He is the 24th major league player to reach the 250-250 plateau, and he is the only primary third baseman (75 percent of career games played at third) to get there.
"At that moment, the last thing you are thinking about is milestones or personal records," Ramírez said.
But he was smiling as he stood at second base after the steal. "Seeing all the guys in the dugout cheering and chanting my name is what made me smile," he said.
"It's a testament to hard work for a really long time and being really, really good for a long time," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.
--Field Level Media