The Toronto Blue Jays have their backs against the wall this afternoon. The Blue Jays were keeping things tight last night before Jeff Hoffman surrendered a few runs, and the bats weren’t able to make up the ground. It’s been a tough go for Toronto since the Milwaukee Brewers landed North of the border, and the Jays will be turning to a veteran arm to stop the bleeding.
Max Scherzer will make his 13th start of the season and walks to the mound this afternoon bearing a 3.82 ERA and a 4.65 FIP for his efforts. Through 66 innings, he also owns a 1.061 WHIP and an 8.3 K/9 while limiting the walks to a tidy 2.2 BB/9 rate. The home runs have been a bit of a problem for Scherzer, giving up 13 roundtrippers this year already, but he’s been strong in August (2.61 ERA through five outings) despite giving up four earned in his last start against the Twins.
Scherzer is attacking the zone and finding some swing and miss with his slider, which boasts a 31.8% whiff rate, and this pitch and his fastball have limited hitters to a .213 and a .234 xBA, respectively. His changeup is also keeping opposing bats off balance if they can’t connect, authoring a .221 xBA, but when he misses with these pitches, it really shows, given the .SLG for his slider and changeup both sit above the .400 mark.
Let’s end the week with a W! #lightsupletsgo pic.twitter.com/2yJMAdspgx
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 31, 2025
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Opposite Scherzer this afternoon will be right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who is making his 10th start of the campaign.
Woodruff missed a large portion of 2023 and all of 2024 with an elbow injury and returned midway through this season to give the Brewers some added length in the rotation. The Mississippi product is off to a roaring start, compiling a 3.10 ERA and a 3.53 FIP through 49 1/3 innings of work. He has allowed three or fewer runs in all but one of his starts and owns an 11.5 K/9 and a 0.872 WHIP on the year. The longtime Brewer has struggled with the longball this season, giving up eight home runs to the tune of a 1.5 HR/9
The 32-year-old works with a six-pitch mix that is led by his four-seam fastball, sinker, changeup, cutter, and curveball, with the occasional sweeper mixed in. His changeup has been the strongest pitch this year, producing a +8 run value while keeping hitters tied to a .051 batting average while riding a 36.9% whiff rate. Woodruff changes levels on opposing bats to generate the swings and misses, and generates a ton of flyballs (32.2% this year).
For the Jays, Ernie Clement returns to the lineup after taking a pitch off the hand last week, although Daulton Varsho remains on the sidelines. Clement will man third base. George Springer will be the DH, while Addison Barger will take over in right field.
Location: Rogers Centre – Toronto, Ontario
First Pitch: 1:37 PM EST
Watch/Listen: Sportsnet / Sportsnet 590 The Fan
Starting Pitchers
Toronto Blue Jays – Max Scherzer: 5-2 record, 3.82 ERA, 66 IP, 61 SO, 16 BB
Milwaukee Brewers – Brandon Woodruff: 5-1 record, 3.10 ERA, 49 1/3 IP, 63 SO, 12 BB
Lineups:
Blue Jays:
- George Sprigner – DH
- Addison Barger – RF
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 1B
- Bo Bichette – SS
- Nathan Lukes – LF
- Ernie Clement – 3B
- Andres Gimenez – 2B
- Tyler Heineman – C
- Myles Straw – CF
Brewers:
- Bryce Turang – 2B
- Jackson Chourio – CF
- Christian Yelich – DH
- William Contreras – C
- Sal Frelick – RF
- Andrew Vaughn – 1B
- Isaac Collins – LF
- Caleb Durbin – 3B
- Andruw Moasterio – SS