Another series, another loss to start a series for the Blue Jays.

The Jays faced an AL-Central leading Cleveland Guardians squad last night and southpaw Logan Allen and the Gurdians bullpen were able to limit the damage to just one run, which is all Cleveland needed against starter Kevin Gausman to take the game by a score of 3-1. Toronto faced five different relievers, including Canadian Cade Smith, but they could not add any more runs while grounding into three double plays on the evening.

Since the series against Baltimore on June 3rd, the Jays have lost every opening game within the respective series – Oakland, Milwaukee, and now Cleveland. In retrospect, the Jays had a solid streak before that Baltimore series, winning the opening contest against Chicago (x2), Detroit, and Pittsburgh before this latest losing trend, which seems par for the course for a Toronto squad looking to make it back to .500 baseball.

The low-scoring offense is no secret to the Blue Jays and their fans, a sentiment echoed by Gausman following last night’s game, “As much as you try to block it out, it’s really hard to. The reality is, yeah, if we don’t pitch well, we probably lose… We’ve got to be really good. That’s not to say we have a lack of effort, but right now, offensively, we’re struggling. Defensively, as pitchers, we need to be better. We almost have to be perfect. It’s tough. It adds some pressure, but we’re in the big leagues and you have pressure every single day. Every game is pressure. It doesn’t add any more to it, but that’s just the reality of the situation we’re in.”

Looking to change their fortunes, the Blue Jays will be sending out Trevor Richards, who is expected to open ahead of Bowden Francis, who will likely pitch the bulk of today’s contest. In his last outing, Francis pitched four scoreless while allowing just three hits and one walk to the tune of three strikeouts against the Athletics.

For the Guardians, veteran Carlos Carrasco will be taking the mound for his 315 big league appearance. The right-hander owns a 5.50 ERA on the year but has stellar numbers at the Rogers Centre, posting a 1.54 ERA with 36 strikeouts through just 23 1/3 innings of work.

First Pitch: 3:07 pm EST

TV & Radio: Sportsnet, SN590