The Blue Jays are officially in the habit of winning series—they’ve taken the last four in a row—and are coming off their first sweep of the season against the Yankees at the Rogers Centre. But this weekend should provide a clearer test of Toronto’s durability. After an off-day on Thursday they’re in Fenway to face the AL-East-leading Red Sox, a team they’ve seen three times so far, losing one series, tying the second and winning the most recent in an entertaining display of baseball, the highlight of which was a Saturday afternoon see-saw of a slug-fest that ended in a walk-off win for Toronto. Can they keep the wins coming?
Fri., June 3—7:10 p.m.
R.A. Dickey vs. David Price
Sat., June 4—4:05 p.m.
Marcus Stroman vs. Steven Wright
Sun., June 5—1:35 p.m.
Marco Estrada vs. Eduardo Rodriguez
Betts on or off?
Young Mookie Betts was the talk of baseball this week after hitting five home runs in two nights against Baltimore, four of which came in the first and second innings of consecutive games—the first time that’s ever happened in MLB. He has yet to homer against R.A. Dickey, but he has notched three triples against the knuckleballer in just 31 at-bats. Betts has had less success when facing Stroman and Estrada—batting .167 and .000 against them respectively—but precedents don’t seem to count much right now with the 23-year-old centre-fielder, who’s in just his second full season with the Boston Red Sox.
Streaky Sox
Boston truly boasts the hottest bats in the American League, topped by Jackie Bradley Jr., who recently ended a 29-game hitting streak, being named American League player of the month for May on Friday. The Blue Jays may get a break on the Bradley front, as he’s been off on paternity leave since May 31. But right behind him in terms of streaking is shortstop Xander Bogaerts, also just 23 years old, who’s had hits in 26 consecutive games. Hanley Ramirez is one of six players in the AL who’ve hit in their past 11 straight games. And of course there’s David Ortiz, currently boasting five home runs in his past six outings.
Pitching changeup
After he got lit up by the Orioles in Wednesday night’s game, giving up seven runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings, Boston starter Joe Kelly was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket, making for a four-man Red Sox rotation. This includes lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, who looked strong against Baltimore on Tuesday in his first start of the season after returning from a knee injury he suffered spring training. Stroman was initially scheduled to get the start against his old teammate Price, but instead will face off against Boston’s knuckleballer Wright in game two, while Dickey takes the mound on Friday. Dickey looked pretty solid in his last outing against Boston on May 29 (also against Price), holding the Sox to two runs in 6 1/3 innings, even though the Jays eventually lost the game 5–3.
How do you spell relief?
The big question going into any series this season has been how the relief pitching will stand up. And when you’re up against as formidable a lineup as Boston’s you have to assume that Gibbons and Co. are holding their breath that much tighter when Drew Storen or Gavin Floyd takes the mound. At the same time, the Red Sox are having their own bullpen woes—on Thursday they gave up seven runs to the Baltimore Orioles in the seventh and eighth innings, ultimately losing 12–7. The Blue Jays have handled Boston’s marquee closer, Craig Kimbrel, recently, scoring on him in the eighth to tie and then again in the ninth to win that back-and-forth Saturday contest. Even Russ Martin doubled off the quirky Kimbrel. And if you can do it once…
A smaller gap to close
The AL East is not the tightest division in the league—with Cleveland and Chicago each just 1.5 games back of the KC in AL Central—but the Blue Jays are right now just 3.5 games behind Boston, thanks in part to the Orioles 2–1 series win over the Red Sox this week. Which is why this series is crucial for all three teams, just as next weekend’s series between Toronto and Baltimore should be as well. Whichever way they go, these games promise to be intense, hard fought and revealing.
