Toronto hasn't had it easy at the top of the rotation. Jameson Taillon and Shane Bieber are both on the 15-day IL, Trey Yesavage is working back from a knee issue, and the club is patching together starts as September winds down. Whoever starts Saturday for the Jays is doing it without much of the depth this roster was built around.
Both lineups are banged up in ways that matter. Baltimore is without Gunnar Henderson, its everyday shortstop, on a day-to-day foot issue, and has lost Luis Robert Jr., Christian Franklin and Blaze Alexander to the IL within the past two weeks — that's a lot of outfield and infield depth gone at once. Toronto's version of the same problem is Anthony Santander on the 60-day IL and George Springer playing through a shoulder that's limited him to pinch-hit duty.
Neither club has found any real rhythm lately. The Orioles have gone 2-3 in their last 5, having taken 2 of the first 3 from Cleveland in a set that's since wrapped, while dropping the first two of a five-game window to Boston. The Blue Jays are also 2-3 in their last 5, having split their first two against Kansas City and taken 1 of 3 from the Athletics — good enough to stay in the mix, not good enough to separate from it.
With Baltimore at 71-76 and Toronto at 73-74, this is two clubs playing out a September that hasn't gone to plan for either. Whatever happens Friday in the series opener will color who takes the field here with something to play for and who's just running out the string.