Game 85: Red Sox at Blue Jays

The Red Sox are back at .500 entering play on July 2nd. They are 14 games out of first place in the AL East. Three games out of 4th place behind the Toronto Blue Jays. Three and a half games out of a Wild Card spot.

After several good to very good outings Garrett Whitlock got rocked by the Miami Marlins last time out. The Tampa Bay Rays knocked him around to start June with a 4.2 inning, 4 run performance and the Marlins ended his month with a 4.2 inning, 6 run outing. He’ll look to bounce back against Toronto as the Sox go for the sweep. It’s hard to believe the revenge tour on the Jays by Boston this year when you consider how bad the team has looked against other opponents. But this year, the Sox just have that extra bit of luck going their way against the lone Canadian baseball team.

Kevin Gausman, however, is no pushover. The Jays won all six of his starts against Boston in 2022. In his only starts against the Red Sox this year the normally difficult foe was rocked for 8 runs in 3.1 innings. Basically a 2022 season in one night. Since that May 4th outing he’s put up a 2.44 ERA / 2.53 FIP and had only one blip against the Minnesota Twins: a 4.2 innings 6 run affair.

Masataka Yoshida has the day off after that hit-by-pitch yesterday forced him from the game.

Jarren Duran gets the start in center field with Adam Duvall resting for the day.

First pitch is at 1:07 PM on WEEI and NESN.