Toronto Blue Jays (42-37, third in the AL East) vs. Cleveland Guardians (40-38, second in the AL Central)
Cleveland; Thursday, 1:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman (5-6, 4.60 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 84 strikeouts); Guardians: Tanner Bibee (4-7, 3.86 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 75 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Guardians -110, Blue Jays -109; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians and Toronto Blue Jays play on Thursday with the winner claiming the three-game series.
Cleveland is 20-16 at home and 40-38 overall. The Guardians have a 27-13 record in games when they record eight or more hits.
Toronto has a 17-21 record on the road and a 42-37 record overall. Blue Jays hitters have a collective .400 slugging percentage to rank eighth in the AL.
Thursday's game is the sixth time these teams meet this season. The Guardians are ahead 3-2 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with 30 extra base hits (16 doubles, a triple and 13 home runs). Lane Thomas is 7 for 30 with two home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has 16 doubles and 11 home runs while hitting .282 for the Blue Jays. Bo Bichette is 14 for 46 with two doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 5-5, .218 batting average, 3.51 ERA, outscored by seven runs
Blue Jays: 4-6, .259 batting average, 4.70 ERA, outscored by three runs
INJURIES: Guardians: Andrew Walters: 60-Day IL (lat), Ben Lively: 60-Day IL (forearm), Will Brennan: 10-Day IL (forearm), Paul Sewald: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Erik Sabrowski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), John Means: 60-Day IL (elbow), Sam Hentges: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Blue Jays: Bowden Francis: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Daulton Varsho: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Anthony Santander: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Yimi Garcia: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Burr: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alek Manoah: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Bastardo: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press