Blue Jays take on the Cardinals in first of 3-game series

St. Louis Cardinals (54-55, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (50-59, fifth in the AL East)

Toronto; Friday, 7:07 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Kyle Leahy (7-4, 3.55 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 88 strikeouts); Blue Jays: Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.46 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 167 strikeouts)

LINE: Blue Jays -175, Cardinals +143; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Blue Jays host the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday to start a three-game series.

Toronto has gone 26-30 at home and 50-59 overall. The Blue Jays are 29-11 in games when they scored at least five runs.

St. Louis has gone 26-23 on the road and 54-55 overall. The Cardinals have the sixth-ranked team ERA in the NL at 4.16.

The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kazuma Okamoto has 14 doubles and 24 home runs for the Blue Jays. George Springer is 13 for 38 with two doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games.

JJ Wetherholt has 10 doubles and 16 home runs for the Cardinals. Ivan Herrera is 10 for 41 with three doubles and a home run over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 4-6, .251 batting average, 4.24 ERA, outscored by 15 runs

Cardinals: 3-7, .218 batting average, 4.30 ERA, outscored by 17 runs

INJURIES: Blue Jays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: day-to-day (hamstring), 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)

Cardinals: JoJo Romero: 15-Day IL (appendix), Ramon Urias: 60-Day IL (elbow), Max Rajcic: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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