August 30 Gameday: Max Scherzer starts as Blue Jays look for series sweep against Seattle
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Aug 30, 2026, 11:31 EDTUpdated: Aug 30, 2026, 11:33 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays continue to find ways to stay in the American League Wild Card race.
Following two straight victories over the Seattle Mariners, coupled with consecutive losses from the Cleveland Guardians, the Blue Jays find themselves 1.5 games back of the final spot with 25 games to play.
Friday night, the Blue Jays broke out the long ball to claim an 8-1 win. On Saturday, Toronto rode seven walks and a couple of key RBI singles from Brett Bateman and Alejandro Kirk to erase a three-run deficit and pull out a 4-3 comeback win.
Sitting with a 67-70 record through 137 games, the Blue Jays are looking to sweep their series at home since March, when they took all three games from the Athletics during the opening series of the season.
Starting for the Blue Jays on Sunday is Max Scherzer. Through 12 starts this season, Scherzer is 1-7 with a 7.02 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. Across 50 innings, the right-hander has struck out 36 and been hit at a .264 clip.
While 2026 has been a struggle for the future Hall of Famer, highlighted by those numbers and two separate trips to the injured list, Scherzer has given the Blue Jays better starts through the month of August.
Across his five starts in August, Scherzer is 0-3 with a 4.62 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Opponents have only been able to hit .219 off the 42-year-old, and if you remove his start in Tampa Bay in which two defensive miscues from Jesús Sánchez helped lead to seven runs over four innings, Scherzer has only allowed six earned runs across 21.1 innings in his four other outings, good for a 2.53 ERA.
Countering Scherzer for the Mariners will be right-hander Logan Gilbert. Through 26 starts this season, Gilbert is 11-7 with a 3.36 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. The 29-year-old has struck out 162 batters across 155.1 innings pitched and limited opponents to a .212 average.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is down to 10 home games to break the home run drought he’s experienced at Rogers Centre this season. The good news for Guerrero: he is a career .333 hitter off Gilbert in 18 at-bats with two home runs and two RBIs.
The last time Guerrero saw a ball sail over the fence in Toronto was against Gilbert back in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, setting up an intriguing matchup for the Blue Jays first baseman.
Here’s how the lineups look in the series finale at Rogers Centre:
Location: Rogers Centre – Toronto, Ontario
First Pitch: 1:37 p.m. ET
Watch/Listen: Sportsnet, SN590
Starting Pitchers
Toronto Blue Jays – Max Scherzer: 1-7 record, 7.02 ERA, 50 IP, 36 SO, 25 BB
Seattle Mariners – Logan Gilbert: 11-7 record, 3.36 ERA, 155.1 IP, 162 SO, 39 BB
Lineups:
Blue Jays:
- Brett Bateman – CF
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 1B
- Alejandro Kirk – C
- George Springer – DH
- Nathan Lukes – RF
- Kazuma Okamoto – 3B
- Andrés Giménez – SS
- Charles McAdoo – 2B
- Myles Straw – LF
Mariners:
- Randy Arozarena – LF
- Dominic Canzone – DH
- Julio Rodríguez – CF
- Cal Raleigh – C
- Josh Naylor – 1B
- Taylor Ward – RF
- Cole Young – 2B
- J.P. Crawford – SS
- Brock Rodden – 3B
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