Red Sox Series Preview: The Blue Jays Are Back

Jun 6, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher

(56) delivers a pitch during the 1st inning of the game against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Pitching Matchups @ Red Sox (Fenway Park)

June 12th @ 7:10 PM ET

• Drew Hutchison (5-1, 4.91 ERA) vs. Joe Kelly (2-4, 5.40 ERA)
• The righty for Toronto has a much better record than his counterpart, before tonight’s game, but has only recently pulled things together. He may not have many losses, but he has given up a ton of runs early in some games, before Hutchison’s team bailed him out for six no-decisions. However, in his last three starts, Hutchison has a combined five runs, four in one game, while striking out 16 opposing batters. He earned two wins in that span.
• Kelly continues to be inconsistent. At least, after suffering an embarrassing loss against the Minnesota Twins, where he only lasted 1.2 innings, Kelly has pitched 11 innings where he allowed just two runs. He struck out nine batters in that stretch.

June 13th @ 1:35 PM ET

• R.A. Dickey (2-6, 5.35 ERA) vs. Clay Buchholz (3-6, 4.07 ERA)
• Both of these pitchers were once considered the aces of their respective rotations. While Dickey has been directly demoted, Buchholz shows some signs of life in the midst of some heckling from Red Sox Nation.
• The 40-year old knuckleball pitcher for Toronto has no wins in his last three appearances, although two of those games were strong. Dickey only allowed two runs in each of those two games, lasting 6.0 and 5.2 innings, respectively, and struck out a combined 11 batters.
• With Buchholz, you never know what will happen. He earned the loss in a start against Minnesota, where he went 7.1 innings and only allowed two runs. He picked up a win by blanking the Twins a few weeks later, striking out eight batters in eight innings. Then he lost his most recent outing by allowing four runs on ten hits in only 4.2 innings of work. Who would make any kind of bet on this game?

June 14th @ 1:35 PM ET

• Marco Estrada (3-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0, 0.44 ERA)
• Estrada is a 31-year-old righty, whom the Blue Jays are experimenting with, this season, to be a starter, after top prospect Daniel Norris proved to need a bit more seasoning. Estrada has not disappointed. He has averaged about three runs for his last three starts, but he has also lasted seven innings in two of those games, with six innings in the third game. He has strikeout potential and does not walk many batters, making him a tough test for the Red Sox to work out of the game.
• If someone is going to outlast Estrada on the Red Sox rotation, it’s going to be Rodriguez. The lefty has become a sensation in Boston, with two wins in his three starts, with the third resulting in a no-decision. In that particular game, Rodriguez threw a ton of pitches that the opposition fouled off, but they only earned three hits against him in six innings, blanking the score.