It almost feels like deja vu. Last week, the Blue Jays welcomed the Phillies to the Rogers Centre and in the first game, lost 8-3 to the NL East rival. Yesterday, Toronto was in the Phillies’ home barn and couldn’t find the bats against Ranger Suarez, losing to a very similar score of 8-0.

If history is any indicator, the Jays will be bouncing back today against Philadelphia (the club would go on to win their next four games), and Bowden Francis will be looking to put the team back on track.

Francis has struggled as of late, and his ERA has ballooned to over the 6.00 mark in this recent stretch. The right-hander has gone from being a ‘no-hit flirt’ to a long ball pitcher in short order, and his 19 home runs allowed sit near the top of the leaderboards across Major League Baseball. He also owns a 6.91 FIP and a 1.558 WHIP while opponents have authored a 10.4 H/9 and a .922 OPS on him this season. There were talks that Francis might get pulled from the rotation before this start, but manager John Schneider squashed these rumours, most likely because the Jays’ starting depth is thin at the moment.

Toronto has lost four of the last five games that the former Brewers’ prospect has started, and has allowed 10 earned runs through his past two outings.

Heading to the mound this afternoon for the Phillies is Cristopher Sanchez, a left-hander making his 14th start of the season for the Phillies. The southpaw has been a strong rotation arm for the Phillies dating back to 2023, and this season, the Dominican product is putting together one of his best campaigns yet.

Through 72 2/3 innings, Sanchez owns a 3.10 ERA, 3.37 FIP, and a 1.294 WHIP while striking out opponents at a 10.3 K/9 rate. Opposing bats own a .673 OPS off the lefty and a .317 BABIP while working with a three-pitch mix. A ground ball pitcher by trade, his 53.9% GB rate ranks in the 90th percentile, and his changeup has produced a +7 run value so far this year, holding opponents to a .176 xBA and a .187 wOBA with a 34.5% usage. The Jays will be in tough to rebound from last night’s game with Sanchez on the mound, especially since when he pitched against Toronto two weeks ago, he held the bats to just four hits and one run across six innings.

With a left-hander on the mound, manager John Schneider has opted for an entire group of right-handed hitters for today’s contest. George Springer will be in right field while Jonatan Clase and Myles Straw complete the outfield. Alejandro Kirk is the DH while Tyler Heineman is the catcher. Davis Schneider slots in at second base, with Andres Gimenez getting the day off. Ernie Clement takes the hot corner and Addison Barger will be on the bench today.

Location: Citizens Bank Park – Philadelphia Phillies

First Pitch: 4:05 pm EST

Watch/Listen: Sportsnet / Sportsnet 590 The Fan

Toronto Blue Jays – Bowden Francis: 2-8 record, 6.12 ERA, 60 1/3 IP, 50 SO, 24 BB

Philadelphia Phillies – Cristopher Sanchez: 5-2 record, 3.10 ERA, 72 2/3 IP, 83 SO, 28 BB