Preview Chicago Cubs vs. Toronto Blue Jays, Saturday, August 17, 1:20 CT

NOTE ON THE WEBSITE: I’ll be attending an annual post-game barbecue today, so today’s recap may be posted a little later than usual, but it will still be online tonight.

Notes from Saturday…

• Run away: Friday’s 6-5 victory in 10 innings was the Cubs’ seventh walk-off win this season, 787th at Wrigley Field, 892nd in the modern era and 990th in the regular season since 1876, the first year of the National League. They had beaten the Blue Jays once before: the last time the teams met at Wrigley Field on Aug. 20, 2017. Alex Avila hit a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to win 6-5. Seiya Suzuki was the 415th different Cub with a walk-off game and the 215th with exactly one. Ron Santo holds the team record with 17. Mark Grace had 15; Ernie Banks and Sammy Sosa 13. (Courtesy of BCB’s JohnW53)
• STILL PLAYS WELL: The Cubs have a record of 21-15 (.583) since July 4, giving them the third-best record in the NL during that span behind the Diamondbacks (27-10, .730) and the Padres (22-11, .667).
• PCA GAME: Pete Crow-Armstrong, last 18 games since July 27: .300/.323/.550 (18-for-60) with three doubles, three triples, two home runs, five stolen bases and eight runs scored.
• INTERLEAGUE INTERLUDE: The Cubs have a 5-4 record in their current 14-game series against American League teams and a 22-13 (.629) overall record against AL clubs this year, tied with the Braves and Rays for the second-best interleague percentage in MLB this year.

Here are today’s details.

Cubs lineup:

Blue Jays lineup:

Justin Steele, LHP vs. Chris Bassitt, RHP

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

MLB Photos – USA TODAY NETWORK

Justin Steele is basically having the same year he has the last two years. Of course, he ran out of steam at the end of 2023 and hopefully that won’t happen this year.

He faced the Blue Jays in Toronto on August 12, 2023, throwing five innings, allowing three runs and striking out seven players.

Chris Bassitt signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the Blue Jays ahead of the 2023 season. He had a good year last year, but this year has been a little more difficult, especially lately. Last seven starts: 7.12 ERA, 1.636 WHIP, seven home runs allowed in 36⅔ innings.

Bassitt was Steele’s opponent in this game last year and allowed four runs in six innings to the Cubs, including a three-run homer by Dansby Swanson.

However, it does have a fairly large pitch range (see table below).

Statcast

Statcast

Tonight’s game is on the Marquee Sports Network. Find out if Marquee is available through a provider near you here. It’s also on the MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Blue Jays markets).

Here is MLB.com’s full live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com Game Preview

Please visit our SB Nation Blue Jays site Bluebird Banter. If you go there to interact with Jays fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules, and be a good representative of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2024 Game Thread process will be similar to last year’s, what we used for Spring Training.

You will find the match preview two hours before kick-off (90 minutes after night games for some early day games) separately on the front page.

At the same time, a StoryStream with the preview will be posted on the home page under the title “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week/Date) Game Threads.” It will contain all posts about that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the Overflow Thread, as well as the recap when it is posted. The recap will also be visible as a separate post on the home page.

You can also find the Preview, First Pitch Thread, and Overflow Thread in the box labeled “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the home page (you can also find them at this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in this section.

The First Pitch thread will be posted five minutes before game time, then there will be an overflow thread 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss among yourselves.