GDB 119.0: Toronto Blue Jays look to beat Chicago Cubs as team honours José Bautista

Happy José Bautista weekend.

It’s been a long time coming, but the Toronto Blue Jays are finally honouring Joey Bats today welcoming him to the Level of Excellence. A journeyman before the Jays acquired him in 2007, Bautista enjoyed the best years of his career becoming a six-time all-star in the process.

He led all of baseball in both 2010 and 2011 with 54 and 43 homers, and over his 10-year tenure in town, added another 194 to the mark.

Today, the Jays will take on the Chicago Cubs in game two of a three-game set, and boy — could they use Bautista’s bat in the lineup. After scoring 25 runs in three games against the Boston Red Sox en route to a crucial series sweep, the last five games — four against Cleveland and one against the Cubbies last night — they’ve scored just nine runs.

Woof.

Let’s see if that can get back on track today.

First pitch: 3:07 p.m EST — Sportsnet, Sportsnet 650.

Toronto Blue Jays: 65-53, 7.0 GB, – WCGB, +53 DIFF.

Chicago Cubs: 60-56, 2.5 GB, – WCGB, +70 DIFF.

Moneyline: TOR -118; CHI +100.

Blue Jays to win the series -143
Series correct score Toronto 2-1 +130

TOR: Chris Bassitt RHP – 11-6, 24 GS, 1392 IP. 3.87 ERA, 108 ERA+, 4.57 FIP, 1.246 WHIP, 3.0 BB/9, 8.4 SO/9.

CHI: Justin Steele LHP – 13-3, 21 GS, 121.0 IP. 2.68 ERA, 171 ERA+, 3.21 FIP, 1.174 WHIP, 2.1 BB/9, 8.4 SO/9.

Tune into the latest edition of Blue Jays Nation Radio as the crew talks about the Jays’ latest series against the Cleveland Guardians, and Alek Manoah being sent to Triple-A.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.