It’s the start of an interleague set on the diamond in the Steel City between a team fighting for a playoff spot and one who seemingly waved the white flag months ago. The Toronto Blue Jays are on the road as they kick off a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday evening. Toronto missed a chance at a home sweep of the Cubs in interleague action as they fell 7-5 in the finale Wednesday night. Pittsburgh was waxed 6-1 by Milwaukee in the rubber game of their three-game series on the road Wednesday. The Blue Jays took two of three in the most recent series between the teams, which came north of the border August 11-13, 2017.
Toronto took two of three at home from the Cubs and now face another rebuilding team in the Pirates over the weekend, giving them a chance to gain some ground. The Blue Jays entered Thursday third in the AL East, eight games behind the Yankees for the top spot. They did own the final wild card spot in the American League by two games over the surprising Orioles. On Wednesday night, Toronto found themselves down 5-0 after two and a half frames and never came all the way back. Teoscar Hernandez (run) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (run) each had two hits for the Blue Jays in a losing effort. Cavan Biggio (his fourth) and Alejandro Kirk (his 13th) each went deep for Toronto. Mitch White (1-5) took the loss on the mound as he allowed six runs on eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts over 4.2 innings.
Alek Manoah is on the mound for the Blue Jays as he makes his 26th start of the season in this contest. He comes in 12-7 with a 2.60 ERA, a 1.028 WHIP, 39 walks and 147 strikeouts over 155.2 innings of action. Manoah took a tough loss in his last start, which came Saturday at home against the Angels. He threw seven innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in a game the Blue Jays lost by a 2-0 score. In his last three starts, Manoah is 0-2 with a 2.89 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, eight walks and 23 strikeouts over 18.2 innings of work. Manoah makes his 46th career major league start in this contest and it marks his first career outing against the Pirates. As a result, he pitches at PNC Park for the first time in his career in this one.