A pair of American League teams in the heart of the playoff picture close out a weekend set north of the border on the diamond. The Cleveland Guardians are on the road as they finish up a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday afternoon. Cleveland rolled to a one-sided 8-0 victory in the opening game of the series Friday night to put themselves in position to win the series no matter what took place Saturday. Which team wins in a matchup of good pitchers on getaway day? This article was published prior to the conclusion of the middle game of the set at Rogers Centre Saturday afternoon.
Cleveland ran their win streak to six games as they rolled past the Blue Jays in the opening game of this series Friday night. The Guardians entered Saturday holding a 1.5-game lead over the Twins in the race for the top spot in the AL Central. On Friday night, Cleveland got three hits each from Nolan Jones and Jose Ramirez (run, four RBI) to pace a 14-hit attack in the victory. Ramirez (his 22nd) and Josh Naylor (his 15th) each homered in the victory for the Guardians. Cal Quantrill (9-5) picked up the win as he threw seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit with no walks and seven strikeouts before handing it off to the bullpen.
Shane Bieber is on the hill for the Guardians as he logs his 22nd start of the season in this contest. He comes in 7-6 with a 3.21 ERA, a 1.094 WHIP, 29 walks and 134 strikeouts over 131.2 innings of work. Bieber earned his third straight win in his last start, which came Tuesday on the road against the Tigers. He threw seven innings, allowing no runs on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in a 5-2 Guardians triumph. In his last three starts, Bieber is 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA, a 0.80 WHIP, three walks and 24 strikeouts over 20 innings of work. Bieber makes his fifth career start against the Blue Jays in this contest. He is 2-1 with a 4.38 ERA, a 1.014 WHIP, seven walks and 25 strikeouts over 24.2 innings of work in those contests. Bieber is 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA, a 0.651 WHIP, two walks and 16 strikeouts over 15.1 innings in two career starts at Rogers Centre.