Pirates host Toronto Blue Jays, look to break home skid

Updated Sep. 3, 2022 3:01 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Toronto Blue Jays (71-59, third in the AL East) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (49-82, fifth in the NL Central)

Pittsburgh; Saturday, 6:35 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Trevor Richards (3-1, 4.53 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 66 strikeouts); Pirates: Roansy Contreras (4-4, 3.57 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 65 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Blue Jays -166, Pirates +142; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates look to end their six-game home slide with a victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Pittsburgh has a 26-37 record in home games and a 49-82 record overall. The Pirates are 37-20 in games when they record at least eight hits.

Toronto is 71-59 overall and 33-30 in road games. Blue Jays hitters have a collective .325 on-base percentage, the top percentage in the AL.

The matchup Saturday is the second time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ben Gamel has 18 doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 40 RBI for the Pirates. Rodolfo Castro is 7-for-27 with two home runs over the last 10 games.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has 29 doubles and 27 home runs for the Blue Jays. Bo Bichette is 13-for-39 with five doubles, a home run and four RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 2-8, .197 batting average, 4.71 ERA, outscored by 31 runs

Blue Jays: 6-4, .238 batting average, 4.21 ERA, outscored by six runs

INJURIES: Pirates: Ke'Bryan Hayes: day-to-day (shoulder), Ben Gamel: day-to-day (foot), Colin Holderman: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Yerry De Los Santos: 60-Day IL (lat), David Bednar: 15-Day IL (back), Dillon Peters: 15-Day IL (elbow), Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow), Canaan Smith-Njigba: 60-Day IL (wrist), Roberto Perez: 60-Day IL (hamstring), Blake Cederlind: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Blue Jays: Julian Merryweather: 60-Day IL (side), Tayler Saucedo: 60-Day IL (hip), Hyun-Jin Ryu: 60-Day IL (forearm), Nate Pearson: 60-Day IL (mono)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.