{"id":143491,"date":"2025-08-13T22:26:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T22:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/143491\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T22:26:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T22:26:14","slug":"blue-jays-bring-offensive-punch-vs-cubs-standout-rookie-pitcher-horton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/143491\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays bring offensive punch vs. Cubs standout rookie pitcher Horton"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a class=\"sn-team-post-link\" data-team=\"toronto-blue-jays\" data-league=\"mlb\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/baseball\/mlb\/teams\/toronto-blue-jays\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> look to test their bats against a record-setting rookie pitcher in Game 2 of a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins at 7 p.m. ET \/ 4 p.m. PT.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"sn-player-post-link\" data-player=\"cef2e01f-1349-4e31-bf1e-757ae8cb6bc6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/baseball\/mlb\/players\/kevin-gausman\/cef2e01f-1349-4e31-bf1e-757ae8cb6bc6\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Kevin Gausman<\/a> (8-8, 3.85 ERA) gets the start for the Blue Jays and an opportunity to scratch a competitive itch after he was ejected from the dugout on his off-day against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 8. In his last start, Gausman struck out eight over seven innings in the record-setting 20-1 win over the Colorado Rockies.<\/p>\n<p>While Gausman leads the team in strikeouts (135), he&#8217;ll face a Cubs team that rivals the Blue Jays in minimizing punch-outs. Chicago&#8217;s offence has the fourth fewest strikeouts, while Toronto is best in the majors. Gausman last pitched against the Cubs in 2022. The right-hander struck out nine batters in a 5-3 win.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"components_block-acf-snippets__kpdtK\">\n<li><img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/guerrero_vladimir1280-2-640x360.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Watch Blue Jays vs. Cubs on Sportsnet\"\/><\/li>\n<li>Watch Blue Jays vs. Cubs on Sportsnet\n<p>The American League-leading Toronto Blue Jays return home for a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. Game 2 is Wednesday, starting at 7 p.m. ET \/ 4 p.m. PT, with live coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/schedule\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Broadcast schedule<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On the other side, rookie RHP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/baseball\/mlb\/players\/cade-horton\/01303e17-e4b2-424f-a40e-8b5bac371f96\" class=\"sn-player-post-link\" target=\"_self\" data-player=\"01303e17-e4b2-424f-a40e-8b5bac371f96\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Cade Horton<\/a> (6-3, 3.18 ERA) hasn&#8217;t given up a run in 23.1 consecutive innings, the longest scoreless streak by a Cubs rookie. Horton, 23, last played in a 6-1 win against the Cincinnati Reds, and has won his last three starts.<\/p>\n<p>Horton, selected with the No. 7 overall pick in 2022, was the team&#8217;s top pitching prospect before being called up to make his professional debut in a 6-5 win over the New York Mets on May 10. Although Horton didn&#8217;t start, he took the mound in the second inning, striking out five in four innings of work.<\/p>\n<p>The Blue Jays might be the biggest threat to Horton&#8217;s scoreless streak, particularly at the Rogers Centre. Toronto is 39-19 at home and is tied for the most home wins in the American League.<\/p>\n<p>The Blue Jays displayed their comfort level at home in their 5-1 series opening win against the Cubs on Tuesday. <a class=\"sn-player-post-link\" data-player=\"9a64565e-788e-46ae-8e37-47261c8ea326\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/baseball\/mlb\/players\/ernie-clement\/9a64565e-788e-46ae-8e37-47261c8ea326\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Ernie Clement<\/a> hit a three-run blast in the fourth inning, his third straight game with a home run, and his fourth in his last five games. Daulton Varsho also homered in the eighth inning, bringing his total to four since his return from injury.<\/p>\n<p>Toronto is <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SNstats\/status\/1955715504842113447\" rel=\"nofollow\">51-3<\/a> when it scores five or more runs, which is best in the league.<\/p>\n<p>The Blue Jays&#8217; pitching staff might get an additional boost with Alek Manoah expected to start for the Buffalo Bisons on Wednesday. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ArdenZwelling\/status\/1955360286191374348\" rel=\"nofollow\">Manoah reportedly<\/a> will aim to throw 70-75 pitches in the rehab start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Blue Jays look to test their bats against a record-setting rookie pitcher in Game 2 of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":143492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-143491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115023812178524408","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}