San Diego Padres at Toronto Blue Jays
- Tuesday: 4:07 p.m. (Padres.TV)
- Wednesday: 4:07 p.m. (Padres.TV)
- Thursday: 10:07 a.m. (Padres.TV)
In the standings
San Diego Padres (27-18, 2nd in NL West)
The Padres were idle Monday, so they moved to within a half-game of the Dodgers in the NL West with LA’s loss. They went 2-4 on the homestand but still have baseball’s fifth-best record. The Padres are 5-4 all-time in Toronto and took two of three last year in San Diego. The Padres were last in Toronto in 2023, when they won two of three.
Toronto Blue Jays (22-24, 3rd in AL East)
The Blue Jays have won six of their last 10 games, but they are still five games off the Yankees’ pace in the division and have a minus-28 run differential that ranks 22nd in the majors. Toronto was last in the playoffs in 2023, getting swept out of the wild-card round. They have won a playoff game since losing five games in the 2016 ALCS to Cleveland.
Trending
San Diego: The Padres had a .650 OPS during a 2-4 homestand. OF Fernando Tatis Jr. ed for three of the team’s five home runs and amassed a .921 OPS. Only two other players had an OPS above .800 — 2B Jake Cronenworth (.851) and SS Xander Bogaerts (.825) — while OF Jackson Merrill was as low as .469.
Toronto: The Blue Jays’ rank 18th in OPS (.698), 21st in slugging (.698) and 15th in bullpen ERA (3.86). OF Daulton Varsho has six homers in 14 games (.898 OPS) since coming off the injured list and three of the Blue Jays’ 10 homers over the last six games. SS Bo Bichette (1.173), OF Myles Straw (1.126), Varsho (1.095) and 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1.026) all have better than a 1.000 OPS over that stretch, while newcomer Anthony Santander (.222) and OF George Springer (.287) are in deep slumps.
Pitching matchups
Tuesday
Padres RHP Dylan Cease (1-2, 4.60 ERA) | He has 19 strikeouts over his last 13 ⅓ innings (2.03 ERA), with two of the three runs scoring on home runs. Cease has walked just three batters and held hitters to a .454 OPS over those two starts, more than 500 points off the opposing OPS (.881) over his previous five starts (6.65 ERA). Cease has faced the Blue Jays twice in his career (13 IP, 1 ER) and not since 2022, when he struck out 11 over six shutout innings.
Blue Jays RHP Chris Bassitt (3-2, 3.16 ERA) | His strikeout rate (9.6 per nine innings) to start the year is above his career rate (8.4) and he’s halved last year’s walk rate (3.7 per nine innings) to 1.8. That said, Bassitt has completed six innings just one in his last seven starts (3.96 ERA). The 36-year-old veteran has a 4.44 ERA in five career starts against the Padres, including four runs — two earned — in 5⅓ innings in a loss last year.
Wednesday
Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (3-3, 3.45 ERA) | He has a 2.12 ERA over his last three starts, striking out 13 against seven walks over 17 innings. Opposing hitters have a .239/.311/.418 batting line over that stretch. Vásquez has a 4.76 ERA over five road starts. Vásquez lost a start to the Blue Jays last year, allowing four runs — one earned — in five innings.
Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (3-4, 4.59 ERA) | The former Giant has a 3.54 ERA in three-plus seasons since g with Toronto. Gausman allowed six runs in 5 ⅔ innings in his last start. He has a 3.35 ERA in 40 ⅓ career innings against the Padres, but he has not faced them since 2021.
Thursday
Padres RHP Stephen Kolek (2-1, 2.33 ERA) | The former Rule 5 reliever began his stay in the rotation with 14⅓ scoreless innings before allowing five runs on eight hits in five innings in a loss on Saturday. Three of the hits left the yard. To date, Kolek ahs struck out 15 against five walks over 19⅓ innings.
Blue Jays RHP Bowden Francis (2-6, 5.63 ERA) | The 29-year-old leads the majors with 14 homers allowed. Francis has three quality starts in nine trips to the mound, but he has an 8.10 ERA over his last five starts (23⅓ IP). Francis also has a 6.75 ERA in five home starts. He threw two shutout innings in relief in a win last year over the Padres, striking out two and walking one.
Team leaders
- OPS: Padres—OF Fernando Tatis Jr. (.936), 3B Manny Machado (.847), DH Gavin Sheets (.800); Blue Jays—OF George Springer (.834), 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.818), SS Bo Bichette (.772).
- Homers: Padres—Tatis (12), Sheets (6), OF Jackson Merrill (4); Blue Jays–OF Daulton Varsho (6), Springer (5), Guerrero (5), DH Anthony Santander (5).
- RBIs: Padres—Tatis (27), Sheets (23), Machado (20), SS Xander Bogaerts (20); Blue Jays—Bichette (22), Guerrero (20), Springer (18), C Alejandro Kirk (20).
- Steals: Padres—Tatis (8), Bogaerts (8), Machado (7); Blue Jays—2B Andres Gimenez (9), Springer (6), Bichette (4).
- Saves: Padres—RHP Robert Suarez (15, 2.84 ERA), LHP Adrián Morejón (1, 3.72 ERA); Blue Jays—RHP Jeff Hoffman (9, 5.75 ERA), RHP Yimi Garcia (3, 3.32 ERA).
- Holds: Padres—RHP Jason Adam (12, 1.54 ERA), RHP Jeremiah Estrada (9, 2.66 ERA), Morejón (6); Blue Jays—LHP Brendon Little (8, 1.69 ERA), Garcia (5), RHP Yariel Rodriguez (5, 3.52 ERA).
Training room
San Diego: RHP Yu Darvish (elbow), Matt Waldron (oblique) and Bryan Hoeing (shoulder) are all on rehab assignments, although only Darvish has thrown for a full-season . Darvish threw four innings for Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday and could return during this string of nine straight games. Waldron is expected to throw for Double-A San Antonio this week, while Hoeing’s two Arizona starts did not go well. Neither INF Mason McCoy (finger) nor RHP Logan Gillaspie (oblique) have started rehab assignments.
Toronto: OF Anthony Santander has been in and out of lineup in the last week with shoulder and hip issues. INF Andres Gimenez (quad) won’t return until later this month, while RHP Max Scherzer (thumb) will not make his first Blue Jays appearance until the end of the month at the earliest. The Blue Jays are also without RHP Nick Sandlin (lat), RHP Erik Swanson (nerve), RHP Ryan Burr (shoulder), LHP Ricky Tiedeman (elbow) and RHP Alek Manoah (UCL).
