Blue Jays, Cardinals aim to start run that ends with wild-card berth

The St. Louis Cardinals visit the Toronto Blue Jays Friday night to open a three-game series that leads into the trade deadline -- and possible changes for both teams.

Both are on the fringes of contention for a wild-card berth in their respective leagues, although they would need to climb over several teams over the final two months of the season. A sweep by either team this weekend could determine whether they decide to be sellers before the Monday trade deadline.

The Blue Jays had Thursday off after recording a 5-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday to complete a 3-3 road trip. They are returning home for three games before hitting the road again and have 17 consecutive games scheduled before another day off.

The Blue Jays have not played like a team poised to make a dramatic late-season run, however. They lost their four previous series before taking two of three from the Nationals.

"That was big," said Ernie Clement, who was 1-for-5 with a double and an RBI in the finale with the Nationals. "We needed a series win. It was a grindy game (Wednesday), so a big win."

The Cardinals lost 4-2 in 10 innings to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday to finish a 2-6 homestand before going on the road for six games. After the series with the Blue Jays, they'll stop in New York to meet the Yankees for three.

"We've come up short as of late, but it's not because of a lack of determination or guys losing any type of edge," St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said on Wednesday. "It's just, we've come up on the wrong side of some of these games, but the focus remains exactly where it needs to be."

Toronto is scheduled to start right-hander Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.46 ERA) in the series opener. He is 1-0 with a 5.28 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals.

Cease is coming off a complete-game one-hitter in a 6-0 victory on the road last Saturday against the Boston Red Sox. He struck out 12 batters and walked three.

Cease lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning against the host San Francisco Giants on July 8 and did not complete that game.

Andruw Monasterio doubled in the sixth inning for Boston to remove any no-hit suspense for Cease earlier this time.

Cease threw a career-high 120 pitches in his masterpiece versus the Red Sox.

"That was awesome," he said. "I'm very happy they let me go for that."

"You don't see it very often," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. "Dylan's kind of a throwback pitcher. He's durable and thrives for that (workload) ... he's evolving as a pitcher and I wanted to give him every chance to finish it."

The Blue Jays will need Cease to continue to pitch like a candidate for the American League Cy Young Award if they are to make a run for a postseason spot. Toronto enters the game on Friday 5 1/2 games out of the final wild-card in the AL but would need to leapfrog five teams.

"Everybody understands where we are and what has to happen," Toronto designated hitter George Springer said. "It's not about stats or numbers. It's about playing with your hair on fire every day."

Right-hander Kyle Leahy (7-4, 3.55) is slated to start for the Cardinals, who are three games out of the final wild-card spot with four teams ahead of them in line. He allowed one run on three hits in a relief appearance of 1 2/3 innings last season in his only career outing against Toronto.

The Cardinals announced after the game Thursday that left-hander Quinn Mathews would make his major league debut Saturday.

Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did not play Wednesday because of a tight hamstring. The injury, however, is not considered serious.

--Field Level Media