Blue Jays take on the Guardians in first of 3-game series

Cleveland Guardians (18-13, second in the AL Central) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (15-16, third in the AL East)

Toronto; Friday, 7:07 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Guardians: Logan Allen (1-2, 4.21 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 18 strikeouts); Blue Jays: Chris Bassitt (2-2, 2.62 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 39 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Blue Jays begin a three-game series at home against the Cleveland Guardians on Friday.

Toronto has a 15-16 record overall and a 10-6 record in home games. Blue Jays hitters have a collective .308 on-base percentage, the eighth-ranked percentage in the AL.

Cleveland has a 7-8 record on the road and an 18-13 record overall. The Guardians are 12-5 in games when they record at least eight hits.

Friday's game is the first time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has four home runs, 16 walks and 17 RBI while hitting .267 for the Blue Jays. Bo Bichette is 11-for-42 with two doubles and an RBI over the last 10 games.

Steven Kwan leads the Guardians with a .311 batting average, and has five doubles, four home runs, nine walks and 15 RBI. Angel Martinez is 10-for-29 with three RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 3-7, .194 batting average, 6.17 ERA, outscored by 34 runs

Guardians: 6-4, .223 batting average, 4.95 ERA, outscored by 20 runs

INJURIES: Blue Jays: Ryan Burr: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nick Sandlin: 15-Day IL (back), Max Scherzer: 15-Day IL (lat), Erik Swanson: 15-Day IL (hand), Alek Manoah: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Bastardo: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Guardians: Paul Sewald: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Erik Sabrowski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lane Thomas: 10-Day IL (wrist), John Means: 60-Day IL (elbow), Slade Cecconi: 15-Day IL (oblique), David Fry: 60-Day IL (elbow), Sam Hentges: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.