Boston @ Toronto preview
Rogers Centre
Last Meeting ( Jul 1, 2023 ) Boston 7, Toronto 6
The Boston Red Sox will vie for their seventh consecutive win over the Toronto Blue Jays this season when the teams conclude their three-game series on Sunday afternoon.
The visiting Red Sox held on to defeat the Blue Jays 7-6 on Saturday after Toronto's Bo Bichette was thrown out at home to end the game.
Boston, which was 3-16 against Toronto last season, has won the first six games of the season between the teams. The Red Sox swept a four-game series from the Blue Jays in Boston on May 1-4.
The Blue Jays continue to struggle within their division; the loss dropped them to 7-19 against American League East rivals this season.
Right-hander Kevin Gausman (7-4, 3.01 ERA) will look to reverse the trend for Toronto when he takes the mound on Sunday. He is 7-9 with a 4.48 ERA in 27 career games (22 starts) against Boston.
The Red Sox are scheduled to start right-hander Garrett Whitlock (4-3, 5.15), who is 2-1 with a 0.61 ERA in nine career games (one start) vs. the Blue Jays.
Whitlock has allowed 10 earned runs on 19 hits over 11 2/3 innings over his past two starts. Part of the problem, according to Red Sox manager Alex Cora, is that Whitlock is throwing too many strikes.
"The approach has changed by the opposition," Cora said. "Obviously, everybody knows he's a strike-thrower. He's one of the best, if not the best, in the big leagues at throwing first-pitch strikes.
"Sometimes throwing too many strikes works against you. We love the fact that he does, but you can throw strikes in different ways."
The Blue Jays got their Canada Day game off to a good start Saturday when George Springer led off the first inning with his 12th homer of the season. It was the fourth time this season that Springer has led off the first inning with a homer and the 56th of his career, second on the all-time list to Rickey Henderson (81).
With third baseman Rafael Devers hitting a two-run homer and an RBI single, the Red Sox pulled to a 6-2 lead and still led 7-5 entering the bottom of the ninth with Kenley Jansen bidding for the four-out save.
The situation became tense when Springer singled and Bichette doubled. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-out single to right field and Springer scored, but Bichette was out at home on right fielder Alex Verdugo's throw to catcher Connor Wong.
"He's one of the best, if not the best, defensive right fielders in the American League," Cora said. "That was a great throw."
The Red Sox had lost a season-high five games in a row before the series in Toronto.
"It's a great team win," Jansen said. "That's how we've got to keep doing it, man."
Blue Jays third base coach Luis Rivera and Bichette both avoided criticism by manager John Schneider for the game-ending play.
"You want to be aggressive, but at the same time, you don't want to make the last out at the plate," Schneider said. "It's a bang-bang play. It's really nobody's fault."
--Field Level Media