The Boston Red Sox Toronto Blue Jays are starting a three game series for an AL East battle on Friday and the matchup from the Rogers Centre starts at 7:07 pm ET as the division rivals meet up and the pitching duel has Wade Miley against Aaron Sanchez for the game.
The Red Sox and Blue Jays are both dealing with pitching issues and this series could highlight that, as all the scheduled starters have ERAs above 4.00 and only two are below five with RA Dickey and Sanchez coming in. The Red Sox pitching rotation was expected to be a strength, but instead it has been a mess and now the team will try and get Miley going in the first game of the series.
Hanley Ramirez has been off to a strong start this season, but he is dealing with an injury and he could be out for part of this series. The Jays also have injuries and Jose Reyes is on the DL, meaning two of the best players on either team could miss the series. Pablo Sandoval is showing signs of getting things going, while Mookie Betts also has been playing very well for the Red Sox. The team needs the pitching to get going and they have Joe Kelly and Clay Buchholz pitching after Miley.
The Jays have Sanchez followed by Drew Hutchison and Dickey and they hope those names can get things going as well. Betts comes in with homers in back to back games and he had a multi home run game last week and his long ball swing has been looking good. Allen Craig is getting things together, while Russell Martin comes in playing well for the Blue Jays, hitting well over .500 in the last seven games that he has played.
The two teams have played a series already and they come in after the Blue Jays won the middle game of that series. The Red Sox were able to win the first game and the third game of the series and the Red Sox have not been scoring as much as they did during that three game stretch. The team needs to start hitting as a group and right now they are in the middle of the pack in the east, with the Yankees leading the division over the Rays, leaving the Sox and Jays with the Orioles for now.
The Toronto offense is continuing to go, as they are first in the league with runs scored and they are also one of the leaders in home runs and that should keep going this year after they were around that last season as well. The next game of the series will be an afternoon game and so is the finale.
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