After seizing the moment in their home opener Monday night, securing a 5-2 win, the Toronto Blue Jays will look to do something tonight they haven’t done all year: win a series.
They split against the Rays, and fell to both the Astros and Yankees, getting behind the eight-ball amid an early season stretch of important games. With each of their first four series against the year coming against American League teams, a few of whom the Jays will be jockeying for divisional and wild card positioning for, it’s important they secure wins here.
And against a Seattle Mariners team that has struggled to start this 2024 campaign, the Jays need to once again seize this opportunity. With the rubber match coming Wednesday afternoon, finding a way to win two-of-three here will be key.
Chris Bassitt will lead the Jays today, coming off two tough starts to begin the season in which he’s been throttled for eight earned runs across nine and one-third innings for a 7.71 ERA. In each of his starts this year, one against the Rays and the other against the Astros, Bassitt has lasted five and four and one-third innings, allowing four earned runs in each start.
However, his early-season struggles aren’t new to him. In his first two starts last season, he allowed 11 earned runs across nine and one-third innings for a 10.61 ERA. His third start? Six innings pitched in which he allowed just two earned runs.
He’ll look for a similar bounce back performance tonight, as the Mariners respond with George Kirby taking the mound for them.
First pitch: 7:07 p.m. EST. TV & Radio: Sportsnet.
Weather: N/A
Moneyline: TOR -114; SEA -102.
Spread: TOR +1.5 -192; SEA -1.5 +155.
Over/Under: o7.5 -120; u7.5 -102.
*Odds available at the time of writing. Odds subject to change.
Starting pitchers:
| Name | Team | GS
|
W
|
L
|
IP
|
ERA
|
xERA
|
ERA-
|
FIP
|
WHIP
|
K/9
|
BB/9
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Bassitt | TOR | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9.1 | 7.71 | 7.06 | 211 | 6.02 | 2.14 | 8.68 | 4.82 |
| George Kirby | SEA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10.1 | 5.23 | 2.37 | 147 | 2.17 | 1.26 | 8.71 | 1.74 |
Lineups:
Davis Schneider remains in left field after his bloop single bagged the winning runs yesterday, as Kevin Kiermaier comes out of the lineup.
TORONTO:
- G Springer (R) RF
- V Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
- B Bichette (R) SS
- J Turner (R) DH
- D Schneider (R) LF
- C Biggio (L) 2B
- A Kirk (R) C
- I Kiner-Falefa (R) 3B
- D Varsho (L) CF
- TBA
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Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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