Blue Jays riding with John Schneider's favorite pitcher to kick off all-important Yankees series

Having won three consecutive AL East series and each of their past six -- going 15-8 in the process overall -- the Toronto Blue Jays have defied the odds and launched themselves right back into the AL Wild Card discussion. Considering that they were full-fledged sellers at the trade deadline less than three weeks ago, calling this stretch a miracle is probably underselling it.

However, as Cage the Elephant once wisely said: "There ain't no rest for the Wicked." Even after surviving a brutal August gauntlet that featured the Cardinals, Astros, Phillies, Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays (all of whom are in playoff position or just outside of it), the Jays now have to travel to New York for another crucial series against the Yankees.

Though they've lined up their dynamic duo of Dylan Cease and José Soriano for the weekend, injuries have once again limited John Schneider's rotation to just four pitchers. And so, he'll once again go to Mason Fluharty to kick off the series.

Mason Fluharty will extend MLB appearances lead with an another opener role against Yankees

Fluharty has started three other games this year, though none since June 4. None of those outing were clean, but across 3.2 innings, he allowed just one run, so it's safe to say he effectively did his job.

More importantly, Fluharty is a southpaw who just crushes left-handed batters, holding them to a scant .154 batting average and .440 OPS this season. Many of the Yankees' best hitters are lefties, including Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Luis Garcia Jr. More frequently than not, that quartet bats in the top half of Aaron Boone's lineup, which could force the skipper to drastically move players around the order to shield them from Fluharty.

The Blue Jays have had success in bullpen games this year, going 9-3 when starting a reliever; that includes a 2-1 mark in Fluharty's previous opening acts. Once he does take the mound, it'll be his 68th appearance of the season, which remains the highest mark in the league (Brock Burke of the Reds is currently in second place with 65 appearances).

There's no word yet as to who will handle the bulk-reliever role in the middle innings. Some reports had suggested that Spencer Arrighetti could be activated and make his Blue Jays debut, though that may be delayed for a little while longer. Simeon Woods Richardson, who hasn't pitched since last weekend, is fresh enough to handle a sizable workload.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow