The Blue Jays and Cubs open a three-game series at Wrigley Field on Friday, and all three games are already near-sellouts. It is a quick turn from preview to event, with the first pitch set for 1:20 p.m. CT and a crowd ready for a matchup that has drawn plenty of attention before the first pitch is thrown.
Tom Dakers, looking at the matchup, called the Blue Jays “incredibly average” and pointed to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. having only three home runs. He also noted that the club’s starting pitching has been solid, aside from Max Scherzer, whom fans will not see on Friday. That absence matters because Friday’s matchup is Ben Brown against Kevin Gausman, the kind of pairing that makes this series feel more competitive than the standings might suggest.
The interest is not hard to explain. The Blue Jays last played at Wrigley Field in August 2024, when thousands of Blue Jays fans followed the team to Chicago, and this set of games arrives with the same kind of pull. The Cubs have played only nine previous home games against the Blue Jays and are 6-3 at Wrigley Field in those meetings, with results that have swung from a two-of-three loss in 2005 to a sweep in 2017 and a two-of-three win in 2024, capped by a 1-0 defeat in the finale.
The series schedule keeps the pressure on. Saturday brings Colin Rea against Patrick Corbin at 1:20 p.m. CT, and Sunday brings Shōta Imanaga against Dylan Cease at the same time. All three games are on Marquee Sports Network, and Friday also streams on Peacock outside the Cubs and Blue Jays market territories. For fans looking at the numbers, the Blue Jays are 16-20 away from Toronto, while the Cubs are 7-8 in June, which fits the uneven stretch both teams have carried into the weekend.
That is why the split judgment in the preview feels right: the pitching matchups lean slightly toward the Blue Jays, but the Cubs can still win the series. Tom Dakers put it bluntly: “The Cubs can win. Two of three.” The near-sellout crowds may make the games feel bigger, but the real test is whether the Blue Jays can turn road interest into road wins at Wrigley Field, or whether the Cubs use home field and a familiar lineup of starters to grab the series before heading to New York for four games against the Mets on Monday evening.
