Guardians face the Blue Jays with 1-0 series lead

Toronto Blue Jays (16-11, third in the AL East) vs. Cleveland Guardians (12-13, second in the AL Central)

Cleveland; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman (2-1, 2.27 ERA, .98 WHIP, 41 strikeouts); Guardians: Shane Bieber (1-1, 2.76 ERA, .99 WHIP, 29 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians lead 1-0 in a four-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cleveland has gone 5-4 at home and 12-13 overall. The Guardians are 11-2 in games when they record eight or more hits.

Toronto has a 16-11 record overall and a 10-6 record in home games. The Blue Jays have gone 10-4 in games decided by one run.

Friday's game is the second time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez has seven doubles, a triple and seven home runs for the Guardians. Andres Gimenez is 12-for-35 with three doubles, a home run and eight RBI over the last 10 games.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has four doubles and seven home runs while hitting .290 for the Blue Jays. George Springer is 9-for-34 with three home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 5-5, .239 batting average, 4.45 ERA, outscored by five runs

Blue Jays: 5-5, .220 batting average, 4.30 ERA, outscored by 15 runs

INJURIES: Guardians: Yu Chang: 10-Day IL (covid-19), James Karinchak: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Carlos Vargas: 60-Day IL (undisclosed), Cody Morris: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Blue Jays: Tayler Saucedo: 10-Day IL (hip), Ryan Borucki: 10-Day IL (blister), Cavan Biggio: 10-Day IL (covid-19), Hyun-Jin Ryu: 10-Day IL (forearm), Teoscar Hernandez: 10-Day IL (oblique), Danny Jansen: 10-Day IL (oblique), Nate Pearson: 10-Day IL (mono)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.