This is a 10* on TORONTO

Toronto played yesterday. Detroit did not. Both teams are off losses though. The Blue Jays lost at home to the White Sox 10-7 on Thursday. The Tigers lost 3-2 at St. Louis Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers may have a slight edge when it comes to the schedule, but Toronto has more talent. Now detractors would quickly point to last weekend when the Blue Jays lost two of the three home games vs. the Tigers. But they are still in playoff contention. They are 5.5 games back of the Wild Card with 36 games left. Detroit is six games below .500 and playing out the string. Friday’s pitching matchup definitely favors Toronto. They’ve got Steven Matz and he’s allowed only six runs in four August starts. Half of those runs he allowed were unearned. He pitched well vs. Detroit when he faced them Sunday. He went six innings and the only run he allowed was Miguel Cabrera’s 500th career homer. Matt Manning has started three games for the Tigers this month. In the first of the three, he allowed the same number of runs that Matz had allowed all month long. Manning also walked four batters in his most recent start, a season-high. Matz has pitched better on the road this year. Toronto is 9-4 off its previous 13 losses. They are on a 23-8 run vs. teams with losing records. Play on TORONTO

AAA