logo
June 20 Gameday: Patrick Corbin and Blue Jays look to bounce back versus Cubs
alt
Photo credit: © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
Tristan Morgan
Jun 20, 2026, 13:30 EDTUpdated: Jun 20, 2026, 17:33 EDT
Comments
A 16-2 beatdown is one way to pull you back to reality after a dominant sweep in Boston.
The Toronto Blue Jays have some major ground to cover over the Chicago Cubs as they seek to even the series at one a piece. On Friday, Kevin Gausman never found the strike zone, Carson Kelly turned a bases-loaded jam into a grand slam, and the runs poured on from there. By the time Myles Straw was cleaning up the mess, Toronto’s bullpen had been bled dry. The Blue Jays now turn to Patrick Corbin for his turn at the Cubs lineup.
Patrick Corbin takes the ball for his 14th start of the year, and considering his recent results, the southpaw is eyeing a bounce-back start this afternoon. Over his last three outings, Corbin owns an 8.49 ERA with a rough 7:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Nobody expected absolute dominance from the 36-year-old, but a 5.49 expected ERA is never ideal.
His last time out, against the New York Yankees, lasted just 3.2 innings and included seven hits and two earned runs. For the year, opponents are hitting .290 against him with a 15.9% strikeout rate, which will put pressure on the defence and offence to pick up the slack.
Standing on the other side is Colin Rea, who’s lined up for his 12th start after splitting time with a long role in the Cubs bullpen. Most recently, Rea threw 4.2 innings of relief against San Francisco last Sunday, allowing four earned runs on six hits. Rea carries a 5.35 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.
Despite a five-pitch mix, the Blue Jays’ offence should be able to work with his 94 Stuff+ with just a 20.7 percent whiff rate paired with a 12.6 opponent barrel rate. Bottom line: expect a lot of fireworks this afternoon from both sides.
With that, the Blue Jays’ offence has actually had some life lately. Over their last 10 games, it seems the team has found their power stroke, slugging .417 with 12 homers in that stretch. George Springer leads the way with three of those long balls, while Brandon Valenzuela has quietly been one of the catchers in MLB, batting .379 over his last 10 with three doubles, three homers and three walks. Toronto’s pitching staff hasn’t matched that pace, posting a 4.55 ERA and surrendering 13 homers over the same window. 
The Cubs, for their part, have been carrying its weight offensively as well. This season, the Cubs are batting .272 over their last 10, slugging .480 with nearly four extra-base hits per contest and 14 homers in that span. Pete Crow-Armstrong has been the engine at the top of the order, with four homers and six RBI over the last 10 games, and eight of his 15 home runs this season coming from June alone.
Their pitching staff has a 3.83 ERA over that stretch, though it has been prone to the long ball as well, allowing 15 home runs in the same 10 games.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is back batting third after a scary moment Friday, grabbing at his lower back on a sixth-inning pop-out and exiting the game. Through June, that back tightness has been a consistent issue, but John Schneider downplayed the severity postgame yesterday, and it seems like he’ll be good to go this afternoon. 
Ernie Clement, who sat out Friday with hip soreness, remains out of the lineup today, which may raise some concerns about the potential All-Star starting second baseman, though the reinforcements are starting to arrive in bunches. 
Toronto also shook up the roster ahead of first pitch. Daulton Varsho, after missing two weeks with left wrist inflammation, is back and slotting into center field, batting sixth. Prior to his injury, Varsho was hitting .256 with 5 home runs and 17 RBI, including a walk-off grand slam on May 13th versus the Tampa Bay Rays. 
Right-handed pitcher Lázaro Estrada, who had been on the 60-day injured list since early April, is also being activated and gives the bullpen a fresh, much-needed arm after Friday’s blowout.
To make room, Charles McAdoo and Brendon Little were both optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. With Varsho back and Guerrero at first, McAdoo’s role as emergency insurance behind Guerrero just isn’t entirely necessary right now, as he’ll probably be back in some capacity in 2026. Little’s situation, though, is far less rosy.
After getting torched in the sixth inning of yesterday’s blowout, he was sent back down as fast as he got called up, now with no easy path back if he struggles at Buffalo. 
Now for the guys down underneath the Wrigley Field bleachers, with ice on their elbows as we speak. The margin for error today is slim for the bullpen; the only three arms not used in yesterday’s blowout are Louis Varland, Jeff Hoffman, and Simeon Woods Richardson, plus the newly added Estrada. Corbin averages a little under five innings per start; someone is going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting.
The Blue Jays are 22-7 when they score five or more runs, so the path to evening this series likely runs through outscoring Chicago rather than out-pitching them. If Toronto can get a few breaks from the baseball gods, the Blue Jays walk out of Wrigley with the series with the Cubs tied instead of on the verge of being swept.
Location: Chicago, IL (Wrigley Field)
First Pitch: 2:20 PM ET
Watch/Listen: Sportsnet One, SN590

Starting Pitchers

Toronto Blue Jays – Patrick Corbin: 2-3, 4.57 ERA, 61.1 IP, 43 SO, 1.48 WHIP
Chicago Cubs – Colin Rea: 5-5, 5.35 ERA, 75.2 IP, 56 SO, 1.46 WHIP

Lineups:

Blue Jays:
  1. George Springer – DH
  2. Nathan Lukes – RF
  3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 1B
  4. Brandon Valenzuela – C
  5. Kazuma Okamoto – 3B
  6. Daulton Varsho – CF
  7. Davis Schneider – 2B
  8. Andrés Giménez – SS
  9. Myles Straw – LF
Cubs:
  1. Pete Crow-Armstrong – CF
  2. Nico Hoerner – 2B
  3. Seiya Suzuki – DH
  4. Michael Busch – 1B
  5. Alex Bregman – 3B
  6. Ian Happ – LF
  7. Matt Shaw – RF
  8. Miguel Amaya – C
  9. Dansby Swanson – SS
News
MORE NEWS. IN YOUR INBOX.
CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Breaking News