Red Sox Series Preview: A War North Of The Border

1 of 5

Jul 1, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A general view as a Canadian flag is unfurled across the outfield for Canada Day before the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Red Sox (34-43) continue their road trip, after taking two of three games from the Tampa Bay Rays, heading over the northern border to face the Toronto Blue Jays (41-36). With four out of the five teams in the American League East division being within a game of each other, and the Red Sox looking to climb back into the race, this series will have great importance.

One game in particular will change the landscape of the series. In Toronto, many Blue Jays fans come to the Rogers Centre to show their support; however, the crowd atmosphere is not like other ballparks. People wearing opposing team outfits are free to walk around the park, cheering for their team that isn’t the Jays, as much as they want and in large numbers. On July 1st, however, that will not be the case.

That day is Canada Day, the nation’s birthday when all of Toronto forsakes the traditional blue for the red-and-white that makes up their flag. The place will be packed and the energy will be electric. And you thought Canadians only celebrated hockey and maple syrup in droves. Shame on you!

That game will be the one that will be deafening for the Red Sox, who will have less red on than the rest of the place. Both teams are 6-4 in their last 10 games, but the Blue Jays will have the distinct home advantage. Besides the fandom, the Jays are 25-15 at home where they feed off of the crowd. The Red Sox are 17-23 on the road. They may have overcome the fans in Tropicana Field, but that was Tampa. On Canada Day week, with the home crowd going crazy in a packed set of bleachers, it will be very different fireworks than what the Red Sox have seen lately.

Let’s look at the tale of the tape for this four-game series:

** All statistics, other than pitch types, come from MLB.com