Toronto @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 12, 2011 ) Boston 14, Toronto 1
THE STORY: The Boston Red Sox managed to salvage a nine-game interleague road trip by sweeping the lowly Houston Astros, but they still have some work to do if they want to get back to the top of the American League East by the All-Star break. The Toronto Blue Jays did the near-impossible on Sunday when they got to Philadelphia Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee and avoided dropping even farther back in the division. Leading All-Star vote-getter Jose Bautista is on another one of his hot streaks, homering in three straight games to retake sole possession of the major league lead. John Lackey will be charged with trying to shut down Bautista when the Red Sox host Toronto in the opener of a three-game series on Monday afternoon.
TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, RSN, NESN
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox RH John Lackey (5-7, 6.81 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Brandon Morrow (4-4, 4.56 ERA).
Lackey has lost two straight but turned in one of his better starts of the season last time out, allowing two runs in 7 2/3 innings at Philadelphia. The burly righthander has been bothered by elbow problems this season and has had his command abandon him at times, leading to some ugly starts. Lackey has already faced Toronto twice in 2011, getting lit up for nine runs on May 11 and earning a win with four runs allowed in six innings on June 11.
Morrow had his worst start of 2011 opposing Lackey on June 11, when he was knocked around for nine runs on 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings. The 26-year-old righthander has been strong in three starts since, going 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA. Morrow has never won against Boston, posting a 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in 12 games (four starts).
ABOUT THE RED SOX (49-34): Boston struggled in interleague play, needing a three-game sweep of the Astros just to come out of it with a 10-8 mark. The final stretch of games in National League parks was the worst, as the Red Sox were forced to sit designated hitter David Ortiz for most of the nine games and ended up dropping two of three at both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. That slump allowed the New York Yankees to reclaim first place in the AL East. Not only will Boston have Ortiz back in the lineup full time from now on, but it heads into the break with seven straight games at Fenway Park, where the team is batting .298 with an OPS of .836. The Red Sox put four players on the AL All-Star team announced Sunday, with Ortiz being joined by Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and first-timer Jacoby Ellsbury.
ABOUT THE BLUE JAYS (41-44): Bautista blew away the field in the fan voting, breaking the record for most total votes in the history of All-Star balloting with 7,454,753. That surpassed Ken Griffey Jr.’s 1994 mark of 6,069,688. The slugger celebrated on Sunday afternoon by hitting the second of back-to-back home runs off Lee in the eighth inning to put Toronto on top of the Phillies 5-4. The Blue Jays went on to win 7-4 and avoided falling five games below .500. Bautista leads the league with 27 home runs while also ranking first in walks, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Unfortunately, Bautista’s brilliance hasn’t been able to carry Toronto, which has scuffled with five losses in its last seven games.
FINAL PITCH: Bautista and Ortiz will be on the same side in the All-Star Home Run Derby. AL captain Ortiz selected Bautista for one of the other three slots. Gonzalez was another of Ortiz’s picks, and a fourth member of the team will be announced in the coming days.