New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays: Gerrit Cole vs. Shane Bieber

The Yankees ended their homestand on a 4-2 run, winning series against both the Braves and Mariners. Now they’ll look to keep that momentum going on a road trip through a couple of AL East destinations, beginning tonight with a bout against the Blue Jays. Toronto has been rather disappointing this season, following up their pennant run with a 59-64 record that sits them in fourth place in the East, though thanks to the increasingly-embarrassing third Wild Card field they’re only two games out of a playoff spot. There’s still four teams ahead of them for said spot but the Jays are hardly going to roll over, especially against a bitter rival.

Gerrit Cole gets the ball looking to start the series off right, and he’s been on a strong run since the calendar flipped over to July. Over his last seven starts he’s pitched 43 innings and allowed just 13 runs while striking out 53, good for a 2.72 ERA in that span. The ace is coming off of a strong outing his last time out, having pitched seven strong with two runs allowed against Atlanta in an eventual Yankees win. If there was an accolade for second-half All-Stars, Cole would be in line to earn one with how he’s rounded into form shaking off a rusty late start in his first year back from Tommy John surgery. For now, he’s just looking to keep the line moving as the Yankee rotation has been carrying the team lately.

Shane Bieber goes opposite Cole, and it has been a season to forget for the former Guardians star pitcher. Bieber, in his second season north of the border, owns a 5.48 ERA in nine starts this year thanks in no small part to a horrendous outing he had on July 28th against Washington where he walked six batters and couldn’t escape the first inning. Bieber kept the runs down in his next outing, going 5.1 innings with only one coming home, but he allowed plenty of contact totaling nine hits and followed that up with his most recent outing where he got tagged for five runs on a pair of homers over 5.2 innings.

George Lombard Jr. continues to shuffle around in the lineup, sliding down to the nine-hole a day after batting fifth in the finale against Seattle. Trent Grisham will lead off with Ben Rice and Spencer Jones filling out the top three. The deadline acquisitions Luis García Jr. and Heliot Ramos flank Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the middle of the order, while Ryan McMahon and Austin Wells round things out ahead of Lombard.

How to watch

Location: Rogers Centre — Toronto, ON

First pitch: 7:15 pm ET

TV broadcast: Apple TV

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), SN590 THE FAN (TOR)

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