The Boston Red Sox hunt for their fifth straight win and look to bury the Toronto Blue Jays further in the AL East basement.
With a win tonight, the Red Sox could improve their season record to 10-5 and potentially take over first place in the division. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays enter play just 2-11 (1-6 at home) and lost two in a row. Despite their record, the Jays are still an imposing team – especially up North at the Rogers Centre. In a case of too little too late, they managed seven runs in last night’s loss and could be on the verge of breaking out offensively. For a team that’s scored the second-fewest runs in baseball, they still field a lineup that has enough marquee hitters deserving of attention. The Red Sox pitching staff will need to work hard to keep those bats silent throughout the remainder of the series.
Red Sox Lineup: Starting Pitcher – Rick Porcello
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Andrew Benintendi, CF
- Mookie Betts, RF
- Hanley Ramirez, DH
- Mitch Moreland, 1B
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Chris Young, LF
- Pablo Sandoval, 3B
- Sandy Leon, C
Rick Porcello takes the mound for the fourth time this season and looks to rebound after an awful outing against the Rays. He gave up eight runs in 4.1 innings pitched and watched his ERA balloon from 4.38 to 7.56. Following his emergent performance last season, a number of analysts were critical of his ability to repeat the level of play that earned him a Cy Young Award. I don’t think anyone expected him to repeat as the best pitcher in the American League, but Porcello has done more to prove the nay-sayers correct than we would like.
Dustin Pedroia is back in the lineup after getting a standard day of rest yesterday. He started in all 13 of the team’s games to start the season. He assumes his usual spot at the top of the lineup and is batting .275/.333/.294 with five runs, five runs batted in, and a 7:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The Blue Jays are sending Francisco Liriano (0-1, 9.00 ERA) to the mound. He’s coming off a ten strikeout performance against the Baltimore Orioles in which he threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 26 batters he faced. First pitch is at 7:07.