American League-leading Blue Jays return home with reinforcements coming

It was feast or famine for the Toronto Blue Jays on their recent road trip that included a record-breaking beatdown of the Colorado Rockies and a series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The first-place team is back home for a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs starting Tuesday night at Rogers Centre ahead of a three-game weekend set against the Texas Rangers.

Toronto leads the American League standings at 69-50 and has a four-game lead on the Boston Red Sox entering play Monday night.

Here's a look at five Blue Jays storylines to watch with about one-quarter of the season remaining:

The resurgence of veteran right-hander Max Scherzer and the emergence of southpaw Eric Lauer have given Toronto's starting rotation more stability.

The team's five-man crew, which also includes Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and Chris Bassitt, could soon become a six-man group as Shane Bieber nears a return.

The 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner, who was acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline, has impressed in his Triple-A rehab appearances.

Bieber underwent Tommy John surgery last year. He has a career record of 62-32 with a 3.22 earned-run average over parts of seven big-league seasons.

Toronto leads the major leagues in several offensive categories, thanks in part to back-to-back-to-back routs of the Rockies last week.

The Blue Jays set a modern-era big-league record with a whopping 63 hits over the three games in Colorado. Toronto also set a franchise record with 45 runs scored.

After dropping two of three games in Los Angeles over the weekend, the Blue Jays still lead the big leagues in hits (1,099), batting average (.269) and on-base percentage (.339). Toronto is also third in on-base-plus slugging percentage (.767).

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