The Toronto Blue Jays are getting healthier.
Max Scherzer will be the second Blue Jays’ starting pitcher in a row to return from the injured list when he starts the series finale Wednesday night against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.
Dylan Cease returned from the IL Tuesday night to strike out 11 over six innings in the Blue Jays’ 3-2 walk-off victory. Cease had not pitched since May 24 because of a strained hamstring.
Each team has won once in the three-game series.
Reliever Adam Macko was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo to clear roster space for Cease. There will be other roster moves with Scherzer coming back and catcher Alejandro Kirk likely to return from a fractured thumb on Friday.
Scherzer (1-3, 9.64 ERA) is scheduled to make his first start since April 24 after dealing with forearm and ankle issues. He is one strikeout away from becoming the 11th pitcher in major league history to reach 3,500 for his career.
The right-hander is 18-5 with a 2.58 ERA in 31 career starts against the Phillies but has not faced them since 2023.
The Phillies are slated to start left-hander Jesus Luzardo (4-4, 4.56 ERA) on Wednesday. His one career start against the Blue Jays was last season, and it did not go well. He was saddled with the loss after allowing eight runs on nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.
It is unclear how Toronto’s lineup will look against Luzardo.
In an attempt to get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. out of his rut, for instance, Blue Jays manager John Schneider had him bat leadoff for the second time in his career on Tuesday. He was 1-for-4 with an infield hit and is hitting .167 (5-for-30) with one RBI in June.
“We’re just trying to shake things up for him a little bit, and we’ll see how it goes,” Schneider said. “I’ve been talking to him about it for a while. I feel like I’ve been talking about him in the two-hole for five years. We were talking about this a couple of weeks ago and he said, ‘I’ll hit wherever.’ It was probably a three-minute conversation (Monday) night. It’s no secret. We go as Vlad goes. No one feels that more than him.”
“I’m sure (Schneider) is trying to get something going, give Schneider a different feel for Vlad,” said Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, who was Toronto’s bench coach the previous three seasons. “I’m hoping it doesn’t really work — for a few days.”
Another struggling Blue Jays hitter, George Springer, was given Tuesday off, although he did get ready to pinch hit late in the game. He was not needed, however.
Tuesday was a tough game for the closers. Toronto’s Louis Varland allowed only his second earned run of the season in the top of the ninth inning on a walk and Bryson Stott’s double that gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
Philadelphia’s Jhoan Duran entered the bottom of the ninth having converted all 16 save attempts this season. But two hits and a wild pitch tied the game, and Brandon Valenzuela singled for his first career walk-off hit.
“You know it’s going to happen at some point,” Mattingly said.
Cease and Phillies starter Zack Wheeler each allowed one run in six innings.
“Cease was really good; I thought Zack was good,” Mattingly said. “Obviously, it was one of those games that’s just not going to be a bunch of runs going up.”
–Field Level Media
