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It’s a classic measuring-stick series that should give these teams an idea of how they stack up. With a bit of luck for both sides, it might even become a preview of the World Series, although they will need to compile a lot of wins between now and late October before that becomes a possibility.

“You look forward to all the series, all the games, but playing good teams is something you have to do in order to get to where you want to get,” Jays manager John Schneider said.

“They’ve got some big-name players, but I think they’re doing it collectively, very similar to us. It’s a complete team and you have to be ready for a variety of different things.”

The Brewers enter this series with the third-best offence and the third-best pitching staff in the majors. By comparison, the Jays have averaged the fifth-most runs per game despite a sluggish first six weeks of the season while their pitching staff is 20th overall.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Brewers’ success is how they are scoring runs. They rank in the bottom half of the majors in homers, but they’re second in on-base percentage and stolen bases.

The Jays rank first in OBP and they hit for more power. After finishing April with the second-fewest home runs in the majors, the Jays are now inside the top 10. Only the New York Yankees have gone deep more frequently in August.

It’s the starting rotation where the Brewers hold the biggest edge. Brewers starters have the second-lowest ERA at 3.44 while the Jays are 20th at 4.37. In theory, that puts the Jays at a disadvantage, but the gap has started to narrow following the arrival of Shane Bieber and the continued resurgence of Max Scherzer.

The pitching matchups this weekend are straight out of a playoff series. Bieber (1-0, 1.50 ERA) will be matched up against perennial Cy Young candidate Freddy Peralta (15-5, 2.68) in Game 1, Kevin Gausman (8-10, 3.87) is expected to face Quinn Priester (11-2, 3.44) in Game 2, and the finale will feature Scherzer (5-2, 3.82) and Brandon Woodruff (5-1, 3.10).

“A staple for the Milwaukee Brewers is blue-collar baseball,” said Jays starter Eric Lauer, who spent the first six years of his career in Milwaukee. “It’s hard-nosed, hard playing, guys put the ball in play and make things happen. Good pitching has always been their forte. It’s right on brand for the Brewers. It makes for a good dirtbag match, it’s going to be an exciting one to watch.”

The upcoming difficult stretch for the Jays doesn’t end with the Brewers. After Milwaukee, the Jays will travel to Cincinnati to face a Reds team that is 4 1/2 games back of a wild-card spot and still hopeful about a late-season run. Then it’s off to New York for a series against the Yankees in the final regular-season meeting between those two teams.

The Jays have the . They have four remaining series against teams currently in a playoff spot and two more against teams that hope to get there.

The only “easy” matchups are three games with the Baltimore Orioles and seven with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Jays have losing records against both, but they are an AL-best 38-31 against teams with above .500 records.

“This is going to be a good test for us,” Lauer said. “We play our best baseball against good teams and we play hard every night. I think it’s going to be a good test to see where we’re at, to see where we stack up.”

This upcoming stretch will either solidify the Jays spot atop the AL East, or open the door for the Yankees and Boston Red Sox to make the final couple weeks a lot more stressful.

Fans old enough to remember the Jays’ collapse in 1987 know nothing is guaranteed until they have clinched a playoff spot. That team had a 3 1/2-game lead in the division with one week to play before losing seven straight and missing the playoffs entirely.

The Jays entered Thursday’s off-day with a four-game lead in the AL East. They will need to finish the year strong to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself. That mission continues Friday.