No team in the majors has played more games away from home than the Blue Jays. This is why most of their remaining games - 22 of 34, to be precise - will be in their own yard.
It's too bad they've actually had a better record on the road than at home in 2023, but there's enough time left to change that.
We saw the Guardians just two weeks ago. They haven't changed much since then. Despite all the injury problems with their pitching staff, they're still very good at preventing the other fellow from scoring - not quite as good as Toronto, but close. But they have even more trouble scoring any runs themselves. Josh Naylor is still on the IL, which leaves them with exactly one good hitter.
The Guardians are expecting to get their injured starting pitchers - Cal Quantrill, Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie - back on the field before the season is over. It'll be too late to save this season, but should make everyone feel better heading into the winter. There is, as there usually is this time of year, speculaton that this might be the last time around the park for Terry Francona, who has had any number of health issues in recent years.
You will probably recall the four games the Jays played in Cleveland - it was barely two weeks ago. It was precisely what you would expect to see when two offensively challenged teams with very good pitching hooked up with one another. The two teams scored just 13 runs between them in the four games, two of which were settled by 1-0 scores.
Mon 7 Aug: Toronto 3 Cleveland 1 - A pitcher's duel between Ryu and Williams, although a line drive off his knee ended Ryu's night after four shutout innings. No one was able to score until Cavan Biggio belted a two-run homer in the eighth inning. The Guardians loaded the bases against Hicks in the ninth, just to keep it tense.
Tue 8 Aug: Toronto 0 Cleveland 1 - Kikuchi allowed just three hits over seven innings, but two of them came on consecutive at bats to begin the second inning, and produced the game's only run. The Jays loaded the bases with one out in the third, but Springer and Varsho fanned; Varsho led off the ninth with a bunt single and promptly stole second, but was still standing on third when Kirk flied out to end it.
Wed 9 Aug: Toronto 1 Cleveland 0 - So the Jays hung a 1-0 loss on the other guys. Springer homered in the first inning, and Gausman made it stand up. Cleveland made a couple of outs on the bases to help out
Thu 10 Aug: Toronto 3 Cleveland 4 - What brought on this stunning offensive explosion? Could it have been Alek Manoah and Noah Syndergaard? That's my theory. Trailing 4-1, the Jays rallied in the seventh. Hits from Biggio, Merrifield, and Belt scored two runs. A Guerrero walk put the go-ahead run on base. But Springer struck out, Kirk popped out, and Schneider struck out.
Matchups
Fri 25 Aug - Bibee (9-3, 3.01) vs Bassitt (12-6, 3.92)
Sat 26 Aug - Allen (6-6, 3.31) vs Ryu (2-1, 1.89)
Sun 27 Aug - Syndergaard (1-2, 4.94) vs Kikuchi (9-4, 3.52)
It's too bad they've actually had a better record on the road than at home in 2023, but there's enough time left to change that.
We saw the Guardians just two weeks ago. They haven't changed much since then. Despite all the injury problems with their pitching staff, they're still very good at preventing the other fellow from scoring - not quite as good as Toronto, but close. But they have even more trouble scoring any runs themselves. Josh Naylor is still on the IL, which leaves them with exactly one good hitter.
The Guardians are expecting to get their injured starting pitchers - Cal Quantrill, Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie - back on the field before the season is over. It'll be too late to save this season, but should make everyone feel better heading into the winter. There is, as there usually is this time of year, speculaton that this might be the last time around the park for Terry Francona, who has had any number of health issues in recent years.
You will probably recall the four games the Jays played in Cleveland - it was barely two weeks ago. It was precisely what you would expect to see when two offensively challenged teams with very good pitching hooked up with one another. The two teams scored just 13 runs between them in the four games, two of which were settled by 1-0 scores.
Mon 7 Aug: Toronto 3 Cleveland 1 - A pitcher's duel between Ryu and Williams, although a line drive off his knee ended Ryu's night after four shutout innings. No one was able to score until Cavan Biggio belted a two-run homer in the eighth inning. The Guardians loaded the bases against Hicks in the ninth, just to keep it tense.
Tue 8 Aug: Toronto 0 Cleveland 1 - Kikuchi allowed just three hits over seven innings, but two of them came on consecutive at bats to begin the second inning, and produced the game's only run. The Jays loaded the bases with one out in the third, but Springer and Varsho fanned; Varsho led off the ninth with a bunt single and promptly stole second, but was still standing on third when Kirk flied out to end it.
Wed 9 Aug: Toronto 1 Cleveland 0 - So the Jays hung a 1-0 loss on the other guys. Springer homered in the first inning, and Gausman made it stand up. Cleveland made a couple of outs on the bases to help out
Thu 10 Aug: Toronto 3 Cleveland 4 - What brought on this stunning offensive explosion? Could it have been Alek Manoah and Noah Syndergaard? That's my theory. Trailing 4-1, the Jays rallied in the seventh. Hits from Biggio, Merrifield, and Belt scored two runs. A Guerrero walk put the go-ahead run on base. But Springer struck out, Kirk popped out, and Schneider struck out.
Matchups
Fri 25 Aug - Bibee (9-3, 3.01) vs Bassitt (12-6, 3.92)
Sat 26 Aug - Allen (6-6, 3.31) vs Ryu (2-1, 1.89)
Sun 27 Aug - Syndergaard (1-2, 4.94) vs Kikuchi (9-4, 3.52)
