Boston Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays Predictions, Picks and Preview – April 8, 2016

Only one team will get back on track this Friday night. The Boston Red Sox head into this series-opener coming off a tough 7-6 loss to Cleveland on Wednesday night, while the Toronto Blue Jays will be looking to end their two-game slide with a win in their first home game of the season.

Who will reign supreme in this one? Read on below for a better look at this exciting AL East showdown. And for more baseball, click here for our preview of the matchup between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers.

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Boston Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays Betting Preview

Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada

When: Friday, April 8, 2016, 7:07 PM ET

Line: Boston Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays – view all MLB lines

TV Broadcast: NESN, RSN

Betting on the Boston Red Sox (1-1)

With last night’s series-finale against Cleveland postponed, Boston will stick to its scheduled starter in Joe Kelly to take the mound for tonight’s game.

Kelly’s performance last season was relatively forgettable, as he went 10-6 with a 4.82 ERA and 1.44 WHIP across 25 games. However, he did end on a strong note during that year by going 8-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his last nine starts.

Moreover, the five-year veteran’s Spring Training performance (3-1, 2.63 ERA in six starts) is another reason to make Boston fans feel optimistic about him. His track record against the Blue Jays, though, isn’t impressive at all. Kelly is only 1-1 with a high ERA of 5.52 across five career starts.

On offense, meanwhile, the retiring David Ortiz should be able to provide Kelly some much-needed runs. He’s gone 3-for-9 (.333) with two homers and three RBIs through the first two games of the season. Ortiz also owns a triple-slash line of .276/.370/.555 in his career against Toronto.

Also, Travis Shaw has been holding a hot bat as well. He will enter this game carrying a .429 batting average (3-for-7). Against the Blue Jays, Shaw is 3-for-10 lifetime along with two home runs and five RBIs.

Boston is 6-1 in its last seven games versus American League East teams.

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Betting on the Toronto Blue Jays (2-2)

Over at the home team’s side, the Blue Jays will lean on the arm of Marcus Stroman to help them snap their two-game slump.

Stroman got the nod in their season-opener against Tampa Bay last Sunday, during which he logged in eight innings of three-run ball to eventually help Toronto come away with the 5-3 victory.

That performance isn’t really something to boast about, but Stroman remains to be an extremely serious threat against the Red Sox. The 24-year-old righty is 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA, .87 WHIP and .192 opponents’ batting average in four career starts in this matchup.

At the plate, Stroman can expect a lot of run support from the hard-hitting trio of Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. All have been holding really hot bats throughout the first four games of the season.

Donaldson, the reigning AL MVP, will be looking to extend his hitting-streak to five games. But it’ll be interesting to see if he’ll be able to play with a mild calf strain that he suffered in Wednesday’s loss to Tampa Bay.

Bautista and Encarnacion, meanwhile, have combined for total of nine hits and are batting .333 and .313, respectively.

Toronto is 8-1 in Stroman’s previous nine starts.

Writer’s Prediction

Toronto wins, 9-3.