Blue Jays bring 1-0 series advantage over Nationals into game 2

Toronto Blue Jays (49-58, fifth in the AL East) vs. Washington Nationals (54-53, third in the NL East)

Washington; Tuesday, 6:45 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Shane Bieber (2-1, 4.70 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 22 strikeouts); Nationals: Cade Cavalli (7-4, 3.58 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 127 strikeouts)

LINE: Nationals -142, Blue Jays +117; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Blue Jays take a 1-0 lead into the next game of the series against the Washington Nationals.

Washington has a 22-33 record at home and a 54-53 record overall. Nationals hitters have a collective .446 slugging percentage to lead MLB.

Toronto is 23-28 on the road and 49-58 overall. The Blue Jays are 17-11 in games when they hit at least two home runs.

The teams meet Tuesday for the second time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Luis Garcia has 18 doubles, four triples and 21 home runs for the Nationals. C.J. Abrams is 19 for 41 with four doubles and seven home runs over the past 10 games.

Ernie Clement has a .296 batting average to lead the Blue Jays, and has 26 doubles, a triple and eight home runs. George Springer is 13 for 39 with two home runs and eight RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nationals: 6-4, .299 batting average, 4.81 ERA, outscored opponents by 22 runs

Blue Jays: 4-6, .229 batting average, 3.58 ERA, outscored by 18 runs

INJURIES: Nationals: Connelly Early: 15-Day IL (elbow), Drew Millas: 10-Day IL (finger), Brad Lord: 15-Day IL (side), Josiah Gray: 60-Day IL (elbow), PJ Poulin: 15-Day IL (flexor), Richard Lovelady: 60-Day IL (tricep), Jake Irvin: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Trevor Williams: 60-Day IL (elbow), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Mitchell Parker: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (forearm)

Blue Jays: Jonatan Clase: 10-Day IL (foot), Lenyn Sosa: 10-Day IL (wrist), Addison Barger: 60-Day IL (elbow), Patrick Corbin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Yimi Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jesus Sanchez: 10-Day IL (ankle), Joe Mantiply: 60-Day IL (knee), Jose Berrios: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cody Ponce: 60-Day IL (knee), Anthony Santander: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Bowden Francis: 60-Day IL (elbow)

___

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