Pirates take on the Blue Jays in series rubber match

Toronto Blue Jays (74-53, first in the AL East) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (53-74, fifth in the NL Central)

Pittsburgh; Wednesday, 12:35 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Chris Bassitt (11-6, 4.22 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 132 strikeouts); Pirates: Johan Oviedo (0-0)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Blue Jays -154, Pirates +129; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Toronto Blue Jays are looking for a series win with a victory on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh has gone 35-30 in home games and 53-74 overall. The Pirates are 16-51 in games when they have allowed at least one home run.

Toronto is 74-53 overall and 32-32 in road games. The Blue Jays have the highest team batting average in the AL at .268.

The matchup Wednesday is the third meeting between these teams this season.

TOP PERFORMERS:

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has 30 doubles and 21 home runs while hitting .298 for the Blue Jays. Daulton Varsho is 11 for 33 with two doubles and four home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 2-8, .222 batting average, 6.56 ERA, outscored by 37 runs

Blue Jays: 6-4, .245 batting average, 4.19 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

INJURIES: Pirates: Oneil Cruz: 7-Day IL (concussion), Endy Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Enmanuel Valdez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Justin Lawrence: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tim Mayza: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jared Jones: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Blue Jays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: day-to-day (hamstring), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Bowden Francis: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Burr: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nick Sandlin: 15-Day IL (elbow), Yimi Garcia: 15-Day IL (ankle), Anthony Santander: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alek Manoah: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Bastardo: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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