Toronto @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 5, 2014 ) Toronto 8, Boston 9

The Boston Red Sox are in showcase mode, and players like Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts and Yoenis Cespedes are proving they deserve a spot in the 2015 plans. The Toronto Blue Jays, who visit the Red Sox for the second of a three-game series on Saturday, are still trying to make a postseason push but are running out of time. The Blue Jays suffered a crushing blow on Friday, when the bullpen blew a pair of leads in a 9-8 loss in 10 innings.

Toronto is five games behind Seattle for the second American League wild-card spot and lost more than just a game Friday as Melky Cabrera, who ranks second in the American League in hits, suffered a fractured pinky finger that will require season-ending surgery. The bigger issue is at the back end of the game, where closer Casey Janssen suffered through another rough outing on Friday and the setup men weren’t much better. Bogaerts and Betts each had a big series in New York to finish the road trip and combined for five hits, three RBIs and four runs scored on Friday while Cespedes bumped his RBI total to 26 in 32 games since joining the team at the trade deadline.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, SNET (Toronto), NESN (Boston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays LH J.A. Happ (9-8, 4.37 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Clay Buchholz (6-8, 5.40)

Happ snapped a six-start winless streak by holding the New York Yankees to three runs on nine hits without walking a batter in seven innings on Sunday. The 31-year-old struck out six in that start and has fanned 14 over 13 innings in his last two turns. Happ’s last win before that came against Boston on July 22, when he scattered seven hits in six scoreless innings.

Buchholz’s up-and-down season continued on Sunday, when he tossed a three-hit shutout at Tampa Bay. That marked the second three-hit shutout of the season for the former All-Star, though during the eight starts in between the two he posted a 1-3 record with a 6.31 ERA. Buchholz was solid at Toronto on Aug. 25, yielding three runs and four hits in 8 1/3 innings without factoring in the decision when the bullpen struggled.

WALK-OFFS

1. Red Sox INF/OF Brock Holt (illness) left the game in the 10th inning Friday and is day-to-day.

2. Toronto OF Colby Rasmus, who lost his starting job last week, will likely take over Cabrera’s vacated spot.

3. Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia (concussion) returned from a five-game absence on Friday and went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.

PREDICTION: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3