This game Wednesday between the Jays and the Guardians is definitely a tale of two cities. The Jays are on the upswing (5-2 L7 in August) and were buyers at the trade deadline while the Guardians are on a slide (1-5 L6 in August) and were sellers at the trade deadline. The Jays are 12th in avg. and 9th in OPS in the last 15 days while the Guardians are 24th and 26th respectively. Probable starting pitchers Gausman (2.40 ERA in his L5) and Allen (2.20 ERA in his L5) look comparable, but Allen’s opposition has been the woeful White Sox (2X), KC (2X) and the Pirates. Except for the Tigers, Gausman’s L5 starts have all been against contenders so they aren’t comparable stats.

The Blue Jays have averaged 5.1R/9 in their last 7 while the Guardians have averaged 2.4R/9 in their last 7. The Blue Jays available bullpen for Wednesday is slightly superior to the Guardians. The Blue Jays have also hit well against LHP this season. All of the above paints a pretty clear advantage for the Blue Jays so they are a solid play Wednesday night.