TORONTO -- A couple of pitchers will be making their returns Tuesday when the Toronto Blue Jays face the Cincinnati Reds.

Toronto left-hander J.A. Happ will be returning to the rotation to make his first start since April 16 after recovering from elbow inflammation.

Cincinnati right-hander Asher Wojciechowski will be returning to face the organization that drafted him in 2010 and then traded him to the Houston Astros in 2012 in the multiplayer deal that brought Happ to Toronto.

The Reds rookie will be facing a hot Blue Jays team that defeated Cincinnati 17-2 Monday while pounding out 23 hits, the third-highest total in Toronto franchise history.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was glad to be able to preserve his bullpen for the game Tuesday because Happ is coming off only one rehabilitation start with Class A Dunedin on Thursday, and that outing lasted three innings. Gibbons used two relievers Monday, Dominic Leone for two innings and J.P. Howell for one.

Gibbons would not say what kind of pitch count Happ might be on.

"I don't want to put a number on it just yet," the manager said, "but it'll be good to get him back out there because we felt like we could probably get as much out of him, we hope, instead of bringing somebody up and going that way."

Happ said before the game Monday, "I've let it go enough in bullpens and games where I feel confidence and just trusting that (the injury is) behind us now."

Happ, who won 20 games last season, is 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA this season. He came out of his third start of the season against the Baltimore Orioles with tightness in his elbow, and he went on the disabled list April 17. An MRI showed the inflammation.

He is 3-3 with a 5.44 ERA in eight career starts against Cincinnati.

Wojciechowski (1-0, 2.25 ERA) will become the fifth rookie and the 10th pitcher overall to start a game for the Reds this season.

He earned his first major league victory May 20 when he made his Reds debut, pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings against the Colorado Rockies. He was 1-0 with a 1.40 ERA in five starts at Triple-A Louisville.

Wojciechowski has never faced the Blue Jays.

The Reds were able to get through the game Monday by using only two relievers, Robert Stephenson, who allowed seven runs (six earned), and Jake Buchanan, who allowed four runs.

Starter Lisalverto Bonilla lasted only 2 1/3 innings, giving up six runs.

"We need a good start," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "We've seen that the ineffective early innings, the big innings early, has kind of been our Achilles heel so far this year in games we've lost. It was no different (Monday), we were down by a lot early."

The Reds allowed 23 hits in a game for the first time since yielding 25 hits to the Atlanta Braves on May 1, 1985, at Riverfront Stadium.

Cincinnati needs pitching.

"There's not a ton of options until two things (happen)," Price said. "One thing is getting our DL guys healthy again, and No. 2 is getting the kids that we've sent down to get better."

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, are becoming healthier. Third baseman Josh Donaldson and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki returned from the DL on Friday, and Tulowitzki hit a grand slam Monday.

Francisco Liriano could rejoin the Toronto rotation soon, possibly Friday, after striking out seven in a 4 1/3-inning rehab outing with Triple-A Buffalo on Sunday.

"We're getting closer," Gibbons said. "We've got (Donaldson and Tulowitzki) back, and that's big. Now if we can get that rotation kind of rolling. They've been beat up. It should definitely help us."