Blue Jays bid to make up for recent performance vs. Royals

For the Toronto Blue Jays to have a chance at moving into an American League wild-card spot this weekend, they'll likely need to play better vs. the Kansas City Royals than they did against the team last week.

The Blue Jays (70-71) will aim for their third straight victory on Friday night when they open a three-game series against the host Royals (63-78), who can play postseason spoiler.

It's been a frustrating follow-up to last season's near-miss of a World Series title for Toronto, but the Blue Jays have won 21 of their last 33 games.

After winning the final two contests of a three-game set at Cleveland this week, the Jays are a half-game behind the Guardians in the chase for the AL's final wild-card spot.

"Every day is a new challenge," Toronto manager John Schneider said. "You've got to take the good from the (Cleveland) series, move on and try to stack some more good days together."

After outscoring the Guardians 17-3 in the last two contests, Toronto has averaged 6.2 runs during its current 5-1 stretch.

"We've got to turn the page and try to do it against a (Kansas City) team that just played us really tough at home," Schneider said.

Before their current surge, the Blue Jays dropped two of three games to the visiting Royals from Aug. 25-27. Toronto totaled just eight runs during that series, and star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 2-for-11.

Guerrero had four hits, including a three-run homer, at Cleveland, however. And teammate Nathan Lukes is batting .343 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in his last 10 games.

Jameson Taillon (2-6, 5.68 ERA) is slated to come off the injured list from forearm tendinitis to make his third start since the Blue Jays acquired him from the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 2. The veteran right-hander has allowed three runs, seven hits and five walks over eight innings in his Toronto tenure.

He hasn't faced the Royals since 2023, but he has yielded just three earned runs over 31 1/3 innings in five starts against them. Overall, Taillon is 1-1 with an 0.86 ERA in five career appearances (all starts) vs. Kansas City.

Kansas City star Bobby Witt Jr. is 2-for-3 with a home run vs. Taillon. Witt is batting .333 with two homers and eight RBIs in his last 12 home games against the Blue Jays.

Teammate Jac Caglianone will get his first look at Taillon. Caglianone went 5-for-6 with a homer and six RBIs during the Royals' 13-2 win at Toronto on Aug. 27. He had two hits with two RBIs on Thursday as the Royals snapped a three-game skid with a 7-3 home win over Miami.

Kansas City catcher Carter Jensen was a single shy of the cycle Thursday. Beginning with the Toronto series, he is 13-for-34 with five homers and 10 RBIs in the last nine games.

"Stay with the process," Jensen told Royals.TV. "Going out there battling with my brothers."

Friday's scheduled Kansas City starter, Daniel Lynch IV (4-4, 3.06 ERA), is 0-2 with a 6.32 ERA in five starts since joining the rotation Aug. 7. He's yet to complete five innings in any of those starts, but the Royals have won each of his last three.

The left-hander gave up a two-run homer, two other hits and walked two over 3 1/3 innings in his team's 8-3 win at Cleveland on Saturday.

Lynch is 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) vs. Toronto.

--Field Level Media