Kevin Gausman looks to lead Blue Jays to two-game sweep over Phillies

It’ll be another interesting pitching matchup as the Blue Jays look to sweep their two-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

Yusei Kikuchi went head-to-head with Zack Wheeler on Tuesday and the Blue Jays edged out a 2-1 victory to open the series. Kikuchi allowed only one earned run over six innings, Cavan Biggio drove in the go-ahead run by getting hit by a pitch, and Jordan Romano picked up the save in his return from the Injured List.

The Blue Jays will send Kevin Gausman to the mound while the Phillies go with Aaron Nola.

Gausman leads Toronto’s starting rotation with a 3.04 ERA and his 183 strikeouts over 139 innings pitched this season is the most of any pitcher in the American League. He faced the Phillies in May and shut them out over six innings of work with nine strikeouts.

Nola is having a down season after finishing fourth in National League Cy Young voting last year. He has a 4.49 ERA and hasn’t made it beyond the sixth inning in any of his last three starts. The right-hander went up against the Blue Jays in May and scattered two earned runs over six innings in a Phillies win.

The Blue Jays will have another day off on Thursday before they hit the road to face the Cincinnati Reds on the weekend.

First pitch: 7:07 p.m EST — Sportsnet, Sportsnet 650.

Toronto Blue Jays: 67-54, 7.5 GB, – WCGB, +60 DIFF.

Philadelphia Phillies: 61-57, 12.5 GB, – WCGB, +32 DIFF.

Moneyline: TOR -143, PHI +122.

TOR: RHP Kevin Gausman — 9-6, 3.04 ERA, 139 IP, 183 SO, 34 BB, 1.137 WHIP.

PHI: RHP Aaron Nola — 9-8, 4.49 ERA, 148 1/3 IP, 153 SO, 35 BB, 1.139 WHIP.

TOR: Whit Merrifield LF, Brandon Belt DH, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. iB, George Springer 1B, George Springer RF, Cavan Biggio 2B, Alejandro Kirk C, Daulton Varsho CF, Santiago Espinal 3B, Paul DeJong SS.

PHI: Kyle Schwarber DH, Alec Bohm 3B, Bryce Harper 1B, Nick Castellanos RF, Bryson Stott 2B, Trea Turner SS, J.T. Realmuto C, Jake Cave LF, Johan Rojas CF.