Boston Red Sox (17-18) @ Toronto Blue Jays (15-20)
Jon Lester (4-1, 2.33) @ Kyle Drabek (2-2, 4.50 )
7:07 PM EDT |Rogers Centre (Toronto, ON Canada.)
TV: NESN RADIO: WEEI 850, WWZN 1510
INJURY REPORT
Toronto: Adam Lind, back soreness (Day-to-day, left game in sixth inning on May 7th); Jayson Nix, left shin contusion (Placed on the 15 day DL April 23rd); Jesse Carlson, strained left shoulder (Placed on the 60 day DL March 29th); Dustin McGowan, recovering from right shoulder surgery (Placed on the 15 day DL March 12th);
Boston:Marco Scutaro, strained left oblique (Placed on the 15 day DL May 8th); Dan Wheeler, strained calf (Placed on the 15 day DL May 5th); Bobby Jenks, bicep soreness (Placed on 15 day DL May 5th, retroactive to May 2nd)
GAME NOTES
The Red Sox head across the border to begin a six day road trip Tuesday night against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Sox have won three straight and are coming off an eleven game home stand that saw them go 6-5. This will be the third chance they have had this season to even their record to .500. The responsibility falls on the lefty, Jon Lester, who is looking for his fifth consecutive win. He comes in with a 2.33 ERA after a victory against the Angels in which he struck out a season high eleven batters. He faces twenty-three year old Kyle Drabek, who was the key piece in the deal that sent Roy Halladay from Toronto to Philadelphia. Drabek has posted a 4.5o ERA this year, going 2-2. The righty is coming off a tough start in New York in which he only pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up 5 runs and walking 4. This will be his first career start against Boston. Jacoby Ellsbury looks to continue his eighteen game hitting streak as the Sox try and push Toronto further down in the division standings.
Lineups
Red Sox
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrain Gonzalez, 1B
- Kevin Youkilis, 3B
- David Ortiz, DH
- J.D. Drew, RF
- Jed Lowrie, SS
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Toronto
- Yunel Escobar, SS
- Corey Patterson, LF
- Jose Bautista, RF
- Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
- Aaron Hill, 2B
- Juan Rivera, DH
- J. P. Arencibia, C
- John McDonald, 3B
- Rajai Davis, CF
Stats
-The Sox have won ten of their last twelve at the Rogers Centre.
-Jose Bautista leads the majors in WAR with 2.9. He also has the highest OBP in the league with a .524 mark (qualified only players with over one hundred plate appearances).
-Lester’s HR/FB rate is up this year at 13.5% compared to a career 9.1%
-Toronto is hitting .214 as a team this month.
-Lester has 14 career starts against Toronto. He’s gone 8-4 with a 3.30 ERA.
-Toronto’s bench has good numbers against Lester. John McDonald (Fifteen AB’s): .333/.375/.600, Jose Molina (Fifteen AB’s): .333/.412/.333, Corey Patterson (Twelve AB’s): .417/.417/.750
-Roy Halladay’s numbers since the Blue Jays traded him: 26-11 with a 2.40 ERA and 276 strikeouts in 304 innings pitched.
-If the Sox win tonight, it will be the latest they have gotten to .500 since 1996.
Feel free to stop by during the game and add your comments to the discussion, we’d love to hear from you.