by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com
The Toronto Blue Jays (54-61) visit the Chicago Cubs (66-49) this afternoon at Wrigley Field in what was supposed to be an off day for both teams. Today’s contest is a make-up for a June 21 game that was postponed due to rain. The originally scheduled game was the series finale of a three-game set that began on June 19. The clubs split the first two games with the Cubs winning the opener 16-2, and the Blue Jays coming away with an 8-6 victory in the second game. This will be the only meeting of the year between the teams.
Toronto heads to Philadelphia to face the Phillies in a three-game weekend series after today’s contest, while the Cubs travel to Kansas City to take on the Royals in a three-game set.
Toronto defeated the Astros 5-4 in 10 innings yesterday at Houston. Ernie Clement’s two-run homer in the tenth inning provided the winning runs for Toronto. The Blue Jays overcame a 3-0 deficit in the sixth inning to pick up the victory. Toronto won two of three against Astros.
The Cubs held on for a 7-6 victory against the reigning back-to-back champion Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday. Chicago led 7-1 heading into the 8th inning before escaping with the victory. Superstar outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong went 3-for-5 with 2 homers and 4 RBI to lead the Cubs. Carson Kelly and Nico Hoerner also collected three hits apiece for Chicago. The Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the back-to-back champion Dodgers.
Today’s starters are All-Star Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.41 ERA, 174 strikeouts in 20 starts) for Toronto and David Peterson (6-7, 5.52 ERA, 85 strikeouts in 6 starts for CHI and 16 appearances for NYM) for Chicago
GAME ODDS
Moneyline: Toronto (-123), Chicago (+102)
Run Line: Toronto -1.5 (+141), Chicago +1.5 (-171)
Run Total: over 7.5 (-105), under 7.5 (-115)
GAME STORYLINES: TORONTO
Last season, the Toronto Blue Jays finished with the best record in the American League at 94-68, and advanced to the World Series where they pushed the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to the brink of elimination before falling 4-3 in a thrilling series. Toronto’s 94 wins in 2025 was a 20-game improvement over the 2024 season.
The Blue Jays made their first World Series appearance since 1993 when they won their second of back-to-back World Series crowns. Last year’s World Series run was ignited by a stunning mid-season turnaround where the Jays were struggling at 26-28 on May 28, but went 68-40 the rest of the way to finish with a 94-68 mark. They rode that momentum all the way to the World Series.
Despite losing All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette as a free agent to the New York Mets, Toronto added a pair of highly-regarded free agents in standout starting pitcher Dylan Cease (7-year, $210 million) and Japanese star infielder Kazuma Okamoto (4-year, $60 million). The addition of an ace pitcher and a power-hitting bat were expected to make up for the loss of Bichette.
Unfortunately, the superb play of Dylan Cease and Kazuma Okamoto (team-leading 24 HR and 70 RBI in 112 gms) in their debut seasons for Toronto has not translated into success for the team. The Blue Jays have been one of the bigger disappointments in MLB this season as they enter today’s game at 54-61, and occupy last place in the American League East division. Toronto is on pace for 76 wins which would be 18 fewer wins than last year.
Injuries to key players (George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Addison Barger) and a substandard season from perennial All-Star Vlad Guerrero Jr. (6 HR in 108 gms) are the main reasons for Toronto’s struggles. The Blue Jays’ underwhelming record led to them being sellers at the trade deadline. They dealt outfielder Dalton Varsho, along with starting pitcher Kevin Gausman and reliever Jeff Hoffman. Toronto received 10 players at the trade deadline.
Toronto wasn’t just selling off players at the deadline, they did attempt to revamp their mediocre pitching staff by adding a pair of starters in 27-year-old Jose Soriano (9-6, 3.28 ERA, 127 strikeouts in 22 starts) from the Los Angeles Angels and 34-year-old Jameson Taillon (2-6, 8.96 ERA, 72 strikeouts in 15 starts) from the Cubs. The Blue Jays are hoping both players can become steady contributors behind superstar ace Dylan Cease.
The aforementioned Dylan Cease takes the mound today for Toronto. The 30-year-old, righty is compiling arguably the best season of his outstanding career in year 8. He’s currently 7-5 with a 2.41 ERA and 174:51 K:BB. He’s recorded at least 7 strikeouts in 14 straight starts. Cease made the All-Star game for the first time in his career this year. He started for the National League All-Stars.
GAME STORYLINES: CHICAGO
Much like tonight’s opponent (Toronto), the Chicago Cubs also experienced a successful breakthrough campaign in 2025 after several years of underachieving seasons. The Cubs finished with an impressive 92-70 record last year. They earned fourth seed in playoffs, knocked off the fifth-seeded San Diego Padres in the opening Wild Card round before losing 3-2 to the top-seeded Milwaukee in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Chicago’s 92 victories last year was their highest win total since 2018 when they finished 95-68. The Cubs also won a playoff series for the first time since 2017 when they advanced to the NLCS. The key to last season’s turnaround was a vastly improved offense led by the emergence of Michael Busch, Seiya Suzuki and Peter Crow-Armstrong, who each hit 30+ homers.
During the offseason, the Cubs allowed free agent slugger Kyle Tucker (22 HR in 136 gms w/Cubs last yr) to walk and replaced him with another slugger in Alex Bregman (.273, 18 HR, 62 RBI in 114 gms w/BOS last yr), who the Cubs signed to a five-year, $175 million deal. Swapping Tucker for Bregman was somewhat of a wash since both guys established themselves as consistent power hitters in their careers.
Chicago entered the 2026 season as the favorite (+150) to win the National Central over the reigning three-time NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers (+180). The Cubs are unlikely to unseat MLB-leading Milwaukee (71-43) as NL Central champs this year, but they come into today’s game with one of the better records in MLB at 66-49 and are riding high after a three-game sweep of the defending back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Despite being 5.5 games behind MLB-leading Milwaukee in the NL Central division, the Cubs are in firm control of the top Wild Card spot as they hold a 5-game lead over Arizona and Philadelphia. They possess one of the top offenses in MLB. Chicago’s 192 runs ranks second in MLB and their plus-99 run-differential ranks fourth.
The exceptional play of center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong headlines a deep and talented Cubs lineup. The 24-year-old, fourth-year superstar is batting .288 with 26 homers, 69 RBI, 28 steals, 22 doubles and 7 triples across 115 games. Crow-Armstrong leads the Cubs in batting average, homers, RBI, steals, triples, hits, on-base percentage, on-base plus slugging percentage and slugging percentage.
Pete Crow-Armstrong is in a heated race with Shohei Ohtani for the National League MVP. He is now tied with Ohtani atop the NL MVP odds projections (-110) after crushing two homers in yesterday’s 7-6 victory over Ohtani’s Dodgers as the Cubs swept the Dodgers. PCA finished 6-for-13 with 2 homers, 5 RBI and 6 runs scored in the three-game sweep of the Dodgers. His pristine performance against the Dodgers may have solidified the 2026 NL MVP for him.
THE PICK: CUBS (Moneyline)
I prefer to go with the dominant pitcher the overwhelming majority of the time when picking games but I’ve got to make an exception here. Dylan Cease is in the midst of a Cy Young-caliber season, but the Cubs are the better team and just swept the defending back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers. Take the Cubs on the Moneyline as a profitable underdog!