Pirates at Blue Jays
The Pittsburgh Pirates had little trouble in their first four interleague contests this week and will try to continue the trend when they visit the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday in the opener of three-game interleague set. The Pirates are trying to track down the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central and are getting some help from teams near the bottom of the standings in the AL.
Pittsburgh took three of four from the Detroit Tigers to draw within one game of .500 (57-58) and within three games of the first-place Cubs in the tightly-packed NL Central. The Pirates are still trying to find some consistency on offense and pounded out 13 hits in a 7-5 win over the Tigers on Thursday after managing three hits in a 10-0 setback on Wednesday. The Blue Jays are still at the bottom of the AL East standings but are doing their best to knock others out of contention and took two of three from the New York Yankees this week to throw some chaos into the top of their own division. Toronto will try to keep rolling behind right-hander Marcus Stroman on Friday while the Pirates counter with Jameson Taillon.
TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, Sportsnet (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Jameson Taillon (6-5, 4.60 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Marcus Stroman (10-5, 3.17)
Taillon turned a corner in his last start, when he struck out eight in 6 1/3 innings while allowing two runs and five hits. The 25-year-old could not make it through four innings in either of his previous two turns while surrendering a total of 18 runs - 17 earned - and 20 hits in 6 2/3 frames. Taillon is facing Toronto for the first time in his career and is 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA in five career interleague starts.
Stroman surrendered 11 hits at Houston on Sunday but limited the damage to two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings without factoring in the decision. The Duke product was not a part of the decision in four of his last five starts despite surrendering three or fewer runs in each of the no decisions. Stroman appeared once in relief previously against Pittsburgh and is 8-1 with a 2.38 ERA in 14 career interleague games - 11 starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Blue Jays SS Troy Tulowitzki (ankle) will miss the rest of the regular season but is expected to be ready for spring training.
2. Pittsburgh 1B Josh Bell is 4-for-7 with three extra-base hits in the last two games.
3. Toronto DH Kendrys Morales (illness) was scratched from Thursday's lineup and is day-to-day.