After an injury-riddled Wednesday night, the Toronto Blue Jays are sending out a shorthanded lineup for the rubber match against the San Francisco Giants.
Toronto will be without shortstop Bo Bichette and outfielder Daulton Varsho after the two suffered injuries in the second game of the series.
Bichette, 26, left Wednesday’s game in the fourth inning with what the team said was right calf soreness. An MRI on Thursday revealed that Bichette was dealing with a right calf fascia strain and will be day-to-day, manager John Schneider said.
The team is hoping to avoid putting him on the IL but they’ll likely have a player on the taxi squad for their weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Schneider said Bichette felt the pain Wednesday after he caught a pickoff throw to second base by catcher Alejandro Kirk in the second inning. He appeared to stumble after catching the bounced throw.
The shortstop spent 10 days on the IL in June with a right calf issue and in all, has missed 14 games this season.
The two-time All-Star is slashing .222/.275/.321 with four homers and 30 RBIs.
Replacing him will be Leo Jimenez, who has a .400 batting average in four games this season since being called up from triple-A Buffalo.
Varsho, 28, left in the third inning of Wednesday’s game with a left knee contusion, the team announced. Schneider said Varsho is day-to-day.
He suffered the injury after hitting a grounder down the first-base line during his at-bat in the second inning. He slid awkwardly as he attempted to avoid the tag from Giants pitcher Logan Webb.
Varsho is batting .197 with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs this season.
Davis Schneider will patrol left field in his stead and bat seventh.
Coverage for the game starts at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
