Fresh off recording their second seven-run inning in as many games, the Chicago Cubs will vie to win their third series in a row on Saturday afternoon when they host the Toronto Blue Jays.

Carson Kelly belted his second career grand slam to highlight a seven-run first inning as Chicago set a season high in runs during its 16-2 romp over Toronto on Friday afternoon. Kelly also recorded a career-high six RBIs after working a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning and an RBI infield single in the seventh.

“All in all, I just have to be aggressive in those moments. Great win for the boys,” Kelly told Marquee Sports Network.

The Cubs banged out 18 hits on Friday, two days after scoring seven runs in the second inning of their 8-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Chicago has seven-run innings in consecutive games for the first time since July 5-6, 2001, per MLB.com.

A winner in six of its past eight games overall, Chicago has turned the tide after a dreadful stretch in which it went 0-9-1 in series. And the Cubs have plenty of offensive stars to thank for their recent success.

Pete Crow-Armstrong had an RBI single among his three hits in the series opener and reached base in all five of his plate appearances. He has hit safely in nine consecutive games and 21 of his last 22.

“You’re not going to come out here and just steamroll people all the time. And we’re bound to be called streaky when we’ve kinda played the way we played so far,” Crow-Armstrong told Marquee Sports Network.

“If we just go on a tear right here, that’s great. and that’s gonna set us up real nice going into the break. If anything, just adding to our identity, which we get to see in games like this, which is a ton of aggressiveness and very instinctual baseball. That’s us.”

Toronto left-hander Patrick Corbin (2-3, 4.57 ERA) will start on Saturday opposite Chicago right-hander Colin Rea (5-5, 5.35).

Corbin saw his winless stretch extend to four outings after allowing two runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings against the New York Yankees in his team’s 8-3 loss on Sunday.

The 36-year-old is 5-2 with a 4.60 ERA in 14 career appearances (13 starts) against the Cubs.

Rea will look to rebound from a pair of subpar outings, as he yielded 11 runs on 15 hits — including three homers — and six walks in 9 1/3 innings in a pair of lopsided losses to the San Francisco Giants and Rockies.

The 35-year-old is 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA in two career appearances (both starts) vs. the Blue Jays.

Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grabbed at his lower back following a pop-out in the sixth inning on Friday. The five-time All-Star missed two games earlier this month due to a back injury, but manager John Schneider told reporters this issue isn’t as bad.

“Nothing like what it was when he missed a couple games,” Schneider said. “Unless anything changes, I think he should be good to go (on Saturday), so that’s a positive.”

–Field Level Media

Miami Marlins right-hander Max Meyer’s emergence this season is not surprising in one sense — but it’s very surprising in another.

Meyer, who is set to start against the visiting San Francisco Giants on Saturday afternoon, is having an All-Star-type season with a 7-0 record and a 2.75 ERA.

That kind of performance is in line with Meyer’s draft pedigree — he was the third overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, and, at age 27, he’s in his prime.

However, the very surprising part is that Meyer is having an undefeated season after undergoing elbow surgery on Aug. 9, 2022, and missing the entire 2023 season. Plus, he struggled in his first two years back (5.68 ERA in 2024, 4.73 ERA last year).

Yet the Marlins are 11-4 when he starts this season, and Meyer has gotten better every month in terms of his ERA — 2.88 in April; 2.70 in May; and 1.96 this month.

“It’s cool to think about how far I’ve come,” Meyer told MLB Network.

He’s also thrown five solid innings without a decision in his only start against the Giants, on April 26, when he gave up one run (unearned) and four hits in his team’s 6-3 loss.

But Meyer isn’t the Marlins’ only big story. Miami posted a 4-3 victory over San Francisco on Friday to improve to 12-4 in June. That’s the best record in the majors this month.

The Marlins also pulled their overall record even at 38-38, and they could be getting help off the injured list any day now. Corner outfielder Griffin Conine, who had a .951 OPS in 11 games before tearing his left hamstring on April 9, homered on Thursday in Triple-A Jacksonville.

Starting pitcher Eury Perez, who had a 3.15 ERA in his age-20 season in 2023, began a rehab assignment on Thursday, throwing 51 pitches at Jacksonville. Perez could be a big boost to a rotation that is thin behind Meyer and Sandy Alcantara.

Meanwhile, the Giants are set to start right-hander Trevor McDonald (2-4, 4.64 ERA) on Saturday. McDonald, who has never faced the Marlins, is 0-4 with one no-decision over his past five starts.

He features a sinker that averages 94 mph, and he throws it about 57% of the time. His two main breaking pitches are his slider (28.5% usage) and his changeup (13%).

The Giants rank second in the majors in batting average (.258) and sixth in slugging percentage (.420) yet just 21st in runs (313).

One big plus for San Francisco has been the play of rookie Bryce Eldridge, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound first baseman. A first-round pick in 2023, Eldridge hit 25 homers in 102 minor-league games last year and has gone deep six times with the Giants this season.

San Francisco, which had a three-game winning streak snapped on Friday, hopes on Saturday to take advantage of a tired Marlins bullpen; Miami used eight pitchers during Friday’s game.

Overall, Giants manager Tony Vitello said he feels good about his squad despite the fact that it is 13 games under .500.

“Maybe I’m feeling overly positive,” Vitello said on Friday afternoon, before San Francisco’s loss, “but I think we’ve had momentum from the Cubs series (June 12-14; a win in the finale) and even before that.”

–Field Level Media

Paul Skenes has dominated the Colorado Rockies in his home park, but his one start in Denver didn’t go as well.

The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander has made one start at Coors Field when he allowed four runs in five innings on Aug. 2, 2025 in a game Colorado won, 8-5.

Skenes (6-6, 2.85 ERA) gets another shot in Denver when he takes the mound Saturday night in the second contest of a three-game series against the Rockies.

Colorado counters with its best starter this season, Tomoyuki Sugano (7-4, 4.79).

The Rockies took the opener on Friday night, 4-3, holding on after Pittsburgh loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning.

Skenes is facing Colorado for the fourth time in his short career and is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in those outings. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning his last start against the Rockies, a 3-1 Pirates win in Pittsburgh on May 12.

Mickey Moniak broke up the no-hit bid with a one-out hit that night and Skenes left after eight shutout innings. It marked the last time he pitched beyond the sixth inning this season – or earned a win. The two-time All-Star lost his next three starts, and he has been victimized by little run support and a faltering bullpen in his three June outings.

He has allowed five earned runs this month but is 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA. In his last start, against Miami on Sunday, he matched a season high with 10 strikeouts over six innings but was tagged with the loss after giving up two solo homers.

His teammates managed to put across just two runs in a 4-2 loss.

“It’s baseball,” Skenes said after the game. “I’ve dealt with it before. It’s a team sport. It’s just the nature of the game.”

Sugano, meanwhile, has received plenty of run support in June. He has won all three of his starts this month despite posting a 6.60 ERA and allowing eight runs – six earned – Sunday against the Athletics in Las Vegas.

He benefited from Colorado’s franchise-record 23 runs in the victory but he will likely have to pitch better with Skenes going for the Pirates. It will also be his first time facing Pittsburgh in his two-year major league career.

It will also be the first time a few Rockies’ players will see the Pirates. Recent call-ups Cole Carrigg and Sterlin Thompson are part of Colorado’s youth movement and each has made an impact in a small sample size.

Thompson hit his first two big-league homers in one game against the Chicago Cubs this week and Carrigg had three home runs in his first 36 at-bats and has flashed some impressive defense. He made a running catch into the ivy at Wrigley Field in Tuesday night’s 5-2 win, saving a run.

“It felt like brick – it was definitely pretty hard, not much cushion with the ivy,” Carrigg said after the game. “That’s a good highlight, for sure. Making a catch in the ivy is pretty cool.”

-Field Level Media