Boston Red Sox (76-70, third in the AL East) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (57-89, fourth in the AL East)
Toronto; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Jhoulys Chacin (3-10, 5.60 ERA) Blue Jays: Clay Buchholz (1-4, 5.32 ERA)
LINE: Red Sox -137; over/under is 10 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Boston enters the matchup as losers of their last five games.
The Blue Jays are 23-37 against teams from the AL East. The Toronto offence has compiled a .235 batting average as a team this season, last in the majors. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the team with an average of .274.
The Red Sox are 32-36 against the rest of their division. Boston has slugged .473, good for fourth in the American League. J.D. Martinez leads the team with a .569 slugging percentage, including 69 extra-base hits and 35 home runs. The Blue Jays won the last meeting 8-0. Trent Thornton recorded his fifth victory and Teoscar Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for Toronto. Trevor Kelley took his first loss for Boston.
TOP PERFORMERS: Randal Grichuk leads the Blue Jays with 25 home runs and is batting .232. Cavan Biggio is 6-for-25 with three doubles, two home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games for Toronto.
Rafael Devers leads the Red Sox with 83 extra base hits and has 107 RBIs. Mookie Betts is 12-for-35 with a double, five home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games for Boston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 3-7, .201 batting average, 4.18 ERA, outscored by 13 runs
Red Sox: 2-8, .201 batting average, 4.86 ERA, outscored by 18 runs
Blue Jays Injuries: Matt Shoemaker: (knee), Elvis Luciano: (elbow), Ryan Borucki: (elbow), Lourdes Gurriel Jr.: (quad), Devon Travis: (knee), Luke Maile: (oblique).
Red Sox Injuries: Steven Wright: (toe), Chris Sale: (elbow), David Price: (wrist), Heath Hembree: (elbow), Dustin Pedroia: (knee), Steve Pearce: (back), Michael Chavis: (shoulder).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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