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Red Sox vs. Blue Jays: Sox out to put series loss behind them in Toronto

The Red Sox aim to put an unfortunate series loss in Kansas City behind them as they head north of the border to take on the Toronto Blue Jays.

By Ben Buchanan
Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City did not treat the Red Sox kindly, leaving them with a 3-4 record on their road trip. They'll try to pull that figure up above .500 before they head back home by taking a series win against the Toronto Blue Jays up north of the border.

Boston Red Sox (71-49)

  1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
  2. Shane Victorino, RF
  3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
  4. David Ortiz, DH
  5. Daniel Nava, LF
  6. Mike Napoli, 1B
  7. Stephen Drew, SS
  8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
  9. Will Middlebrooks, 3B

Starting Pitcher -- Ryan Dempster

Toronto Blue Jays (54-64)

  1. Jose Reyes, SS
  2. Rajai Davis, LF
  3. Jose Bautista, RF
  4. Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
  5. Adam Lind, DH
  6. Brett Lawrie, 3B
  7. Maicer Izturis, 2B
  8. J.P. Arencibia, C
  9. Emilio Bonifacio, CF

Starting Pitcher -- Todd Redmond

The Blue Jays have proved unexpectedly easy pickings for the Red Sox this year, with Boston holding eight wins in 13 tries against the disappointing Toronto team. And while a hot run through June saw the Jays momentarily climb back into the hunt, they've fallen right back to losing since, hopefully leaving them no better prepared to challenge the AL East leading Sox.

If they're going to give the Red Sox trouble, however, tonight seems the most likely time. It's been a while since Ryan Dempster has actually been good, but right now he seems to be at his level worst, leaving any game he starts in question until he can convincingly turn it around. Hopefully the Red Sox offense will be able to give him his usual amount of backup--despite allowing 26 runs (21 earned) in his last five starts, the Red Sox have won all five.

The good news in that department is that the Todd Redmond has had some trouble keeping runs off the board himself early in his career. And if his strikeout and walk numbers look pretty good, he's a heavy flyball pitcher in a park where the Red Sox seem to hit plenty of homers. Who knows? Maybe the familiarity will even inspire Will Middlebrooks back up to old heights.

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