The Toronto Blue Jays are set to begin a series of first place teams against the Milwaukee Brewers at home in Rogers Centre on Friday night. Each team will send one of their best to the mound, as the Brewers will send ace Freddy Peralta to the mound, while Toronto will counter with lefty Shane Bieber. The trade deadline acquisition from the Cleveland Guardians made his season and Blue Jays debut with a sterling six-inning performance last Friday. MLB Network analysts Mark DeRosa and Ryan Rowland-Smith talked about Bieber's excellent debut on X, formerly Twitter.
Shane Bieber returns to the mound tonight on MLB Network after dazzling in his first appearance with the @BlueJays!@hyphen18 and DeRo break down the former Cy Young winner's promising start and what to expect in tonight's matchup with Freddy Peralta. pic.twitter.com/Ehv74ahpqQ
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) August 29, 2025
“Shane Bieber returns to the mound tonight on MLB Network after dazzling in his first appearance with the @BlueJays!” posted the league channel's page on Friday. “@hyphen18 and DeRo break down the former Cy Young winner's promising start and what to expect in tonight's matchup with Freddy Peralta.”
A Peralta-Bieber matchup will certainly be a must watch, as two excellent veterans will look to outmaneuver the opposing lineups. If the season ended today, both the Brewers and the Blue Jays would be the top seeds in their respective leads. This would lead to byes from the Wild Card round and extra rest for the current division leaders. Rowland-Smith's breakdown as a former pitcher was especially poignant, as he praised Bieber's pitch mix and control with the fastball. Can Bieber twirl a second straight standout start on Friday night?
Blue Jays look to solidify hold on AL East
A win on Friday night could put the Blue Jays four and a half games clear of the Boston Red Sox. If Boston wins, then the gap would remain three and a half games. In either scenario, Toronto needs this win a bit more than Milwaukee right now. The Brewers lead the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central by six and a half games.
Bieber versus Peralta has all the makings of a classic pitching matchup. Both veterans will look to propel their teams to a great start in this critical weekend clash. This is the type of matchup that Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins and the rest of the team brass brought Bieber aboard for. Can the former AL Cy Young continue to show that lights out form in front of the home crowd Friday night?
