Toronto @ Boston preview

Toronto at Boston

Last Meeting ( Jun 3, 2012 ) Boston 1, Toronto 5

The Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox head into their three-game set in Beantown on stunningly even terms. They've split their previous six games - scoring 23 runs apiece. While the Red Sox have won nine of their last 11, they will enter Monday's tilt with a different look. Boston traded veteran third baseman Kevin Youkilis to the Chicago White Sox after its 9-4 win over Atlanta on Sunday.

The trade of Youkilis was essentially brought on by the rapid improvement of rookie Will Middlebrooks, who is 10-for-16 with three homers and 10 RBIs in his last six games. Toronto saw its modest two-game winning streak come to an emphatic end when it dropped a 9-0 decision to reeling Miami on Sunday. The Blue Jays will play at Fenway Park for the first time in 2012. Last year, they dropped six of their eight meetings in Boston.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, RSN, NESN

PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Henderson Alvarez (3-6, 4.30 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH Felix Doubront (8-3, 4.31 ERA)

The wheels have come off for Alvarez, who is winless since May 10. The 22-year-old hard-throwing Venezuelan has lost four of his subsequent seven starts - including a 7-2 setback to Boston on June 1. Alvarez permitted four runs and eight hits in the loss. In his last trip to the mound, Alvarez allowed six runs on 11 hits in four innings in a 7-6 loss to Milwaukee on Monday.

Doubront posted his fourth win in five outings after allowing four runs in six innings in a 15-5 win over Miami on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Venezuelan defeated Toronto on June 2, yielding just three runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. Doubront is 2-0 with a save in his career versus Toronto.

WALK-OFFS

1. Youkilis received a curtain call after he ripped a run-scoring triple in the seventh inning Sunday. The veteran was traded to Chicago after the game for right-hander Zach Stewart and utility player Brent Lillibridge.

2. Dustin Pedroia has struggled mightily since returning from a thumb injury. Pedroia is hitting just .182 in his last 16 games, but he did belt a homer off Alvarez in a 4-2 win on April 9.

3. Toronto (37-35) is the lone last-place team in the majors with a winning record.