Boston Will Look To Stay Ahead of Toronto In AL Standings
Red Sox vs Blue Jays Preview: The Red Sox Match Up Better
Fresh off last night’s Sunday Night Baseball win against the Yankees, the Boston Red Sox will head out on the road to face the Toronto Blue Jays in a three-game series.
Although Boston is still 12 games out of the AL East, the Red Sox, standing at 37-35, are still fighting for a Wild Card spot.
On the other hand, the Blue Jays are 35-36, but a series win against the Red Sox would only give Toronto more confidence about landing an AL Wild Card spot.
With that, the Blue Jays are -128 on the moneyline. Meanwhile, the total sits at 7.5, with the Over juiced to -118.
We’ve got a lot to cover in this three-game series. Therefore, we’ve added our full Red Sox vs Blue Jays preview below.
Red Sox vs Blue Jays 
📊Records: Boston Red Sox (37-35), Toronto Blue Jays (35-36)
📍Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON
⏰Day/Time: 📺Streaming: NESN, Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, TVA Sports
The Red Sox Are Getting Healthy!
The Boston Red Sox expect to get reliever Chris Martin and infielder Romy Gonzalez back for their series on Monday. No roster move has been announced, but don’t be surprised if there’s some movement before tonight’s game begins.
However, MLB news and rumors suggest that Wilyer Abreu will likely not return until the weekend’s series against the Reds.
Yimi Garcia’s Elbow Soreness
On Sunday, in the ninth inning, with two outs, the Blue Jays had to remove Yimi Garcia from the game due to elbow soreness.
Toronto is already without Jordan Romano and can’t afford to lose Garcia for an extended period. We’ll await the results on Garcia’s elbow today.
Red Sox vs Blue Jays Preview & Odds For Game 1:
RL: Blue Jays -1.5 (+165) ML: Blu Jays -128, O/U: 7.5 -118/-102
⚾ Game 1 ⚾
Monday, 7:07 pm ET
Nick Pivetta vs. Yusei Kikuchi
The Red Sox will use Nick Pivetta for the series’ first game. He’s a righty who has a 3.88 ERA on the season. He’s also struck out 31.3% of batters over the last month and has held teams to a .297 wOBA this season.
He’ll face a Blue Jays projected lineup that hasn’t hit for much power over the last 30 days. However, the same lineup has hit a .341 wOBA with only 15.3% of strikeouts and 11% of walks against righties over the previous month.
It’ll be interesting to see how this game plays out, given Pivetta’s high strikeout rate and Toronto’s ability to put the ball in play.
On the other hand, Yusei Kikuchi will take the hill for Toronto. The left-handed pitcher has struggled against righties over the last 30 days, giving up a .170 ISO and wOBA of .355. He’s also earned just 16% of strikeouts against righties in the previous month.
Kikuchi is set to face a Red Sox lineup that should have six righties in it. Those six righties have a .350 wOBA over the last 30 days against lefties but have also struck out 32.4%.
Opposite to Pivetta, Kikuchi doesn’t earn high strikeouts but has more opportunities to do so against the Blue Jays.
Therefore, we’d take the Blue Jays at home for tonight’s game. Boston played late last night and had to travel to Toronto for this one. They’re not going to have the most production MLB lineups today.
⚾ Game 2 ⚾
Tuesday, 7:07 pm ET
Tanner Houck vs. Chris Bassitt
In Tuesday’s game, Tanner Houck will get the ball. The right-hander has held teams to a .053 ISO and wOBA of .234 with 54.4% of ground balls and only 16.7% of fly balls allowed. He’s holding a 2.08 ERA and has been one of the best pitchers in the American League this season.
Again, the Blue Jays don’t strike out much, but they’ve struggled to hit for power. It’ll be as hard to find power against Houck in this game.
Conversely, the Blue will pencil in Chris Bassitt for the Game 2 start. Bassitt has only struck out 14.1% of lefties over the last 30 days, but he’s at least held those lefties to a .019 ISO. He won’t rack up strikeouts against lefties, but he’s still forcing poor contact.
That said, Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers are two lefties with great potential against Bassitt. With Houck’s consistency and better matchups for the Red Sox, our MLB predictions like Boston in this one.
⚾ Game 3 ⚾
Wednesday, 7:07 pm ET
Brayan Bello vs. Kevin Gausman
Finally, in the finale, Brayan Bello is scheduled to start for Boston. Bello has only struck out 19.8% of batters over the last 30 days. He’s also walked 11.9% in that time frame and has given up a .357 wOBA.
That said, Bello has still earned nearly 62% of ground balls in that time and has held teams to 16.7% line drives and fly balls over the last month. If he can keep walks down, Bello will be on his way to a streak of quality starts.
However, the Blue Jays are good at being patient. They’ve walked 11% of the time against righties using their projected lineup over the last 30 days.
On the other hand, Kevin Gausman will get the ball. He last complained about the offense not scoring much in his last start. That said, he’s held teams to a .287 wOBA in the previous 30 days and has done his job. He’s struggled a bit against lefties, allowing a .231 ISO, so that’s again not good against lefties like Rafael Devers and Jarren Duran.
Enmanuel Valdez and David Hamilton have also hit well against righties over the last 30 days. Back the Red Sox in the rubber match of our Red Sox vs Blue Jays preview.
Red Sox vs Blue Jays Odds
For MLB scores and odds, betting analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
