GDB 82.0: Chris Bassitt takes the mound as Blue Jays look to win series with Giants

After splitting the first two games of this week’s three-game set, the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants will square off in the rubber match on Thursday.

Chris Bassitt will head to the mound for the Blue Jays looking to end his current slump. Bassitt’s last three starts have all resulted in losses and his ERA for the season ballooned from 3.29 to 4.32 over that stretch.

Following his rough start over the weekend against the Oakland A’s, Bassitt said that he’s going to stop calling his own games. He’ll be pitching to Alejandro Kirk, who was activated from the 10-day Injured List, so that could also help Bassitt get back on track. Opponents have a 1.164 OPS off of Bassitt with Danny Jansen catching him this season and they have a .512 OPS when he’s pitching to Kirk.

Going for the Giants will be rookie Keaton Winn, who’s making the first start of his big league career. Winn has thrown 12 innings over four appearances for the Giants this year and he’s scattered five earned runs on nine hits, three walks, and nine strikeouts. The righty posted a 4.35 ERA over 12 appearances in Triple-A before being called up.

First pitch: 7:07 p.m. EST

Toronto Blue Jays: 44-37, 10.0 GB, 0.5 WCGB, +25 DIFF.

San Francisco Giants: 45-35, 2.5 GB, +0.5 WCGB, +43 DIFF.

Moneyline: TOR -154, SFG +132.

TOR: Chris Bassitt RHP – 7-5, 93 2/3 IP, 4.32 ERA, 5.04 FIP, 1.206 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 3.1 BB/9.

SFG: Keaton Winn RHP – 0-0, 12 IP, 3.75 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 1.000 WHIP, 6.8 SO/9, 2.3 BB/9

TOR: George Springer RF, Bo Bichette SS, Brandon Belt 1B, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. DH, Matt Chapman 3B, Daulton Varsho CF, Whit Merrifield LF, Alejandro Kirk C, Santiago Espinal 2B

SFG: LaMonte Wade Jr. 1B, Thario Estrada 2B, Joc Pederson LF, J.D. Davis 3B, Patrick Bailey DH, Blake Sabol C, Austin Slater RF, Luis Matos CF, Brandon Crawford SS.