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

Pittsburgh Pirates (26-24, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (23-27, third in the AL East)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Bubba Chandler (1-5, 5.14 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 36 strikeouts); Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman (3-3, 3.61 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 53 strikeouts)

LINE: Blue Jays -166, Pirates +139; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Blue Jays host the Pittsburgh Pirates to start a three-game series.

Toronto is 23-27 overall and 13-11 at home. The Blue Jays have gone 4-10 in games decided by one run.

Pittsburgh is 26-24 overall and 13-11 in road games. The Pirates have the eighth-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .391.

The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Daulton Varsho has 11 doubles, a triple, five home runs and 16 RBIs for the Blue Jays. George Springer is 9 for 43 with a double and two home runs over the past 10 games.

Nick Gonzales leads the Pirates with a .319 batting average, and has seven doubles, 13 walks and 21 RBIs. Konnor Griffin is 14 for 42 with a home run and two RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 5-5, .210 batting average, 3.29 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs

Pirates: 4-6, .258 batting average, 4.35 ERA, outscored by six runs

INJURIES: Blue Jays: Jesus Sanchez: day-to-day (shoulder), Jose Berrios: 15-Day IL (elbow), Lazaro Estrada: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Addison Barger: 10-Day IL (elbow), Joe Mantiply: 15-Day IL (knee), Alejandro Kirk: 10-Day IL (hand), Nathan Lukes: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Tommy Nance: 15-Day IL (forearm), Max Scherzer: 15-Day IL (forearm), Yimi Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cody Ponce: 60-Day IL (knee), Anthony Santander: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Bowden Francis: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Pirates: Ryan O'Hearn: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Joey Bart: 10-Day IL (foot infection), Chris Devenski: 15-Day IL (illness), Jared Jones: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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