Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt pitches in the American League East these days, but he has made his mark of late against National League West clubs.
Bassitt (10-5, 3.92 ERA) will take the mound Tuesday in the middle game of a three-game road series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It will be the fourth time in six outings he will pitch against an NL West team, and he can only hope this one looks like the other three.
In his most recent outing, on Thursday against the San Diego Padres, Bassitt earned the win with six scoreless innings. He has logged seven outings this year in which he tossed scoreless ball while going at least six innings.
The effort against the Padres was similar to an outing against the San Francisco Giants on June 29, when Bassitt also went six scoreless innings and registered a career-best 12 strikeouts.
In between those two performances, Bassitt also faced the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 15, when he gave up two runs over six innings in another victory. Over his past five appearances, he is 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA.
On a starting staff that also includes Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Yusei Kikuchi and Alek Manoah, Bassitt has been as good as any of them and is the only one among them with double-digit wins.
“We’re doing a really good job,” said Bassitt, who is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA lifetime against the Dodgers in three starts. “But the truth of the matter is we threw five All-Star pitchers together on one staff. We better be good. Obviously, we have been this year. But overall, I mean, if you’re expecting something else, I don’t know what you’re expecting.”
Bassitt will look to hold down the Dodgers after the Blue Jays earned a 6-3 victory in 11 innings of the series opener on Monday. Daulton Varsho hit a two-run double in the 11th, and Whit Merrifield contributed four hits.
Los Angeles will counter on Tuesday with left-hander Julio Urias (7-6, 5.02). The NL ERA champion from 2022 has endured an up-and-down season that saw him miss six weeks due to a hamstring injury.
In his most recent outing, on Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles, Urias gave up a career-high eight earned runs on eight hits over five innings. The outing before that, he went six scoreless innings against the New York Mets.
“I don’t worry about the results, I worry more about feeling good, and that’s what I’m still searching for, being more and more consistent every time I get on the mound,” Urias said through an interpreter. “I’m still optimistic and I’m confident that it’ll come.”
In eight seasons and 151 career outings (115 starts), Urias has never faced the Blue Jays. But he is plenty familiar with Toronto’s Brandon Belt, a longtime member of the San Francisco Giants. Belt has a .318 batting average and two home runs against Urias in 22 at-bats.
While Dodgers designated hitter J.D. Martinez has missed the past two games with left hamstring tightness, fellow veteran Jason Heyward hit a home run Monday to give him 10 on the season after he amassed a combined nine over the previous two seasons.
The Blue Jays were without catcher Danny Jansen on Monday after he exited the Sunday game at Seattle when he was hit by a pitch in the left forearm.
–Field Level Media