The American League East division is pretty much a three-team race, with the Boston Red Sox trailing behind the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. However, they have a good chance of gaining ground with an upcoming three-game home series against the struggling Toronto Blue Jays, who are +100000 to win the division. The Red Sox, meanwhile, are +700 to top the AL East.
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Game by Game Betting Preview for the Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox Regular-Season Series Running from June 21-23 2019
Where: Fenway Park, Boston
When:
Game 1 Friday, June 21, 7:10 PM EST
Game 2 Saturday, June 22, 4:05 PM EST
Game 3 Sunday, June 23, 1:05 PM EST
Line: Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
GAME 1
Starters: Trent Thornton (2-5, 4.36 ERA) vs. Chris Sale (3-7, 3.49 ERA)
Pitching:
Thornton pitched well in his last start, taming the bats of the Houston Astros in a 12-0 win on the road. The 25-year-old righty held the Astros scoreless in 6.2 innings, allowing just six hits while striking out seven hitters. Thornton is 2-2 with a 2.98 ERA in eight total appearances on the road this season. Sale faced the Blue Jays back in April at home, allowing five earned runs on seven hits in 4.0 innings of a 7-5 road loss. In three starts this month, he is 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA.
Hitting
Randal Grichuk is 4-for-10 in career vs. Sale.
Xander Bogaerts is hitting .336 at home this season as of this writing.
Prediction: Red Sox win, 4-2.
GAME 2
Starters: Edwin Jackson (1-4, 10.22 ERA) vs. Brian Johnson (1-0, 9.35 ERA)
Pitching:
Jackson got bullied by Boston’s hitters a month ago at Fenway Park. In a 12-2 road loss to the Red Sox last May, he got tagged for five earned runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings. He was in worse shape in his last start, allowing seven earned runs on six hits in just 0.2 innings of a 10-5 home loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Jackson is 1-1 with a 10.22 ERA in three starts (12.1 innings) this June. Johnson pitched for three innings and allowed an earned run on five hits in an 8-6 win against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
Hitting
Justin Smoak is 5-for-10 in career vs. Johnson.
The current lineup of Boston has a collective career batting average of .272 vs. Jackson.
Prediction: Red Sox win, 8-4.
GAME 3
Starters: Marcus Stroman (4-8, 3.18 ERA) vs. Rick Porcello (4-6, 4.69 ERA)
Pitching:
Stroman picked up a win against the Red Sox back in May at home, when he surrendered just an earned run on five hits but issued six walks in 6.0 innings of a 10-3 home victory. He is 1-2 with a 4.82 ERA in three starts this June. Porcello had a no-decision the last time he faced Toronto, as he gave up an earned run on three hits with four strikeouts in six innings of a 6-5 road win on May 22. In his last start, he shut out the Minnesota Twins in seven innings of action while striking out eight hitters in a 2-0 road win on Jun. 17.
Hitting
Justin Smoak is 12-for-43 with five home runs in career vs. Porcello.
Xander Bogaerts is 11-for-33 with two homers in career vs. Stroman.
Prediction: Blue Jays win, 5-4.
Writer’s Overall Series Prediction
Red Sox take two of three games.
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