This is a 10* on TORONTO

Toronto lost last night to Minnesota, 7-3. They’ve lost four in a row to the Twins going back to 2019. All four losses took place at home and they were outscored 27-4. However, last night aside, this Blue Jays team has been red hot. Winners of 16 of 20, they’ve gotten themselves into the thick of the Wild Card race. But they can’t let up now. Friday’s results leave them a game back of Boston and a half-game back of New York. Those are the teams currently occupying the two Wild Card spots. It’s been a weird season for the Blue Jays (82-65), who have played “home games” in Dunedin, FL and Buffalo, NY. But they were finally allowed to cross the border in late July and that is when they started to surge. Now only four teams have a better run differential on the season than the Jays. Minnesota (65-83) has been a big disappointment in 2021, down 27.5 units and in last place in the AL Central Division. They came into this series off two straight losses where they had only three hits in both games. Steven Matz is the starter today for Toronto. He wasn’t at his best on Sunday when he gave up five runs. But he didn’t need to be at his best as the team won that game 22-7. Before that, Matz had given up only six runs in his previous five starts. Though they beat one last night (Ryu), the Twins are still only 17-33 vs. lefties this year. Ober will start for Minnesota Saturday. He’s not made it past 4.3 innings in either of his last two starts. The Twins will not hit four home runs again like they did Friday. Toronto is 37-17 in day games. Play on TORONTO

AAA