The Blue Jays will look to reliever-turned-starter Carlos Villanueva to continue his strong pitching against Rick Porcello and the surging Tigers when Detroit heads north of the border to open a three-game series on Friday.

After a debut he called “disappointing,” Jeremy Guthrie is looking forward to a strong second outing with the Royals. The Mariners will counter with Blake Beavan, who picked up his fourth win of the season when he faced the Royals at Kauffman Stadium last week.

Each day, MLB.com selects one player from each game whose performance stands out.

Edwin Jackson hurled seven scoreless innings and Steve Lombardozzi contributed a three-run triple as the Nationals beat the Brewers, 8-2, on Thursday at Miller Park.

Powered by consecutive home runs from Carlos Santana and Travis Hafner, Cleveland used a four-run push against Tigers ace Justin Verlander in the seventh inning to claim a rousing 5-3 victory.

Brewers reliever Tyler Thornburg's abrupt exit in the eighth inning on Thursday was the result of nothing more than a tired arm, the rookie right-hander said after Milwaukee's 8-2 loss to the Nationals.

Starling Marte hit the first pitch of his big league career for a home run, one of three hit by the Pirates, and A.J. Burnett notched his 12th win as a critical 10-game trip began with a win over the Astros on Thursday night.

Against a team he has faced only once, Ross Detwiler will be looking to continue the best stretch of his young career vs. Mike Fiers and the Brewers on Friday night in Milwaukee.

Roberto Hernandez, formerly known as Fausto Carmona, returned to a mound on Thursday, making a Minor League start for Class A Lake County at Classic Park.

Jeff Karstens starts for the Pirates opposite Jordan Lyles of the Astros as the teams meet for second of four games on Friday night in Houston.

Starling Marte made his big league debut on Thursday night, batting leadoff for the Pirates and playing left field against the Astros in Houston. And on the first pitch of the game, he hit a home run.

The Rangers could know by Sunday if they will be able to acquire pitcher Zack Greinke, after Brewers general manager Doug Melvin acknowledged Thursday that trading Greinke is a possibility.

With the Trade Deadline looming, Boston's upcoming weekend series against the Yankees could determine general manager Ben Cherington's strategy.

The Giants aren't looking for much as Tuesday's non-waiver Trade Deadline approaches. San Francisco's primary needs remain depth in the bullpen and on the bench.

How dire is the Brewers' bullpen situation? A team with John Axford, who went 46-for-48 in save chances last season, and Francisco Rodriguez, Major League Baseball's single-season saves king, will try closer-by-committee.

Catcher Jonathan Lucroy was back on the active roster and in the starting lineup on Thursday after spending nearly two months on the disabled list, and was asked on his first day back whether he felt like he was too late.

Brewers GM Doug Melvin stopped short of declaring that the Brewers would swap Zack Greinke before Tuesday's 3 p.m. CT non-waiver Trade Deadline, saying instead he was seriously weighing offers for the right-hander and could have a deal any day.