Red Sox Look to Stay on Playoff Race at Blue Jays
The Boston Red Sox are on the outside of the playoff picture for the first time since 2015, they’ll take on the Toronto Blue Jays in a three-game series beginning this tonight. The Red Sox are hanging on to their playoff by a thread. This series in Toronto may go a long way in determining if they are done at the end of the regular season.
TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), Sportsnet (Toronto); LINE: Red Sox -150; O/U: 10 Over -112.
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox RH Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 5.77 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH T.J. Zeuch (0-0, 4.50)
It was just one year ago that the Boston Red Sox were setting the baseball world on fire with a club record-setting 108-win season. It led to a relatively easy World Series win. Now with less than 20 games remaining on the 2019 season, the Red Sox find themselves on the cusp of being officially eliminated from playoff contention. Red Sox ownership made the decision to fire their President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski on Sunday night. The decision followed the conclusion of yet another loss to their arch-rivals, the New York Yankees.
The Jays have been out of playoff contention for some time now. They’ve embraced the opportunity to provide their young roster with significant playing time at the Big League level. That’ll continue when they send No. 16-ranked prospect T.J. Zeuch to the mound for his first career start. The 6-foot-7″ rookie is a force on the mound.
The Red Sox are one of four teams in baseball with at least 800 runs scored. Boston was shut out for only the fifth time this season in Monday’s 5-0 loss to the division-leading New York Yankees. They dropped to 18-1/2 games back with only 18 remaining. The Red Sox must quickly turn their attention to the wild-card race if they want to make the postseason for a fourth consecutive year. Doing so will be difficult with eight games to make up on Oakland over the final 19 days of the season.
The Blue Jays may be just the right opponent. Their season has derailed with losses in 16 of their last 19 games. Toronto finished a winless six-game road trip and saw its overall slide reach seven with Sunday’s 8-4 loss at Tampa Bay.
This, That, and a Dart Throw
Eovaldi still is working on building up his pitch count after serving as a reliever for nearly a month after in the Red Sox bullpen. He was coming off the injured list following elbow surgery. Eovaldi has allowed one run over five innings in a no-decision against Minnesota on Thursday. That was six days after he rang up eight strikeouts over four innings in another no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels. Rowdy Tellez (1-for-2) and Justin Smoak (1-for-10) have homered against Eovaldi. Eovaldi is 1-1 with a 3.90 ERA in five career games (four starts) versus Toronto.
SS Xander Bogaerts needs one double and 3B Rafael Devers needs a double and a homer to become the first set of teammates in major-league history with 30 dingers and 50 doubles in the same season.
Zeuch is set to make his first major-league start for the Blue Jays after pitching well in his debut last Tuesday. He worked three scoreless innings before fading in his final inning of work against Atlanta. The rookie allowed two runs on three hits. He also had two walks while ringing up four strikeouts in four innings of relief. Zeuch was promoted after going 4-3 with a 3.74 ERA in 15 minor-league starts with two teams this year. He owns a 19-19 record and 3.52 ERA in 66 career games (65 starts) in the minors.
The Dart Throw: Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 4
Please Check out our Review of Intertops Sportsbook.
Toronto Blue Jays Trends
- Trend Under is 3-1-1 in Blue Jays last 5 games with the total set at 9.0-10.5. Hit % 75.00% (5) O/U 1|3 Push 1 W/L
- Over is 4-1 in Blue Jays last 5 games with the total set at 6.5 or lower. 80.00% (5) 4|1 0
- Under is 5-2 in Blue Jays last 7 games with the total set at 7.0-8.5. 71.40% (7) 2|5 0
- Under is 5-0 in Blue Jays last 5 games as a home underdog of +201 or greater. 100.00% (5) 0|5 0
Boston Red Sox Trends
- Trend Under is 6-2-1 in Red Sox last 9 games with the total set at 9.0-10.5. Hit % 75.00% (9) O/U 1|3 Push 1 W/L
- Over is 5-2 in Red Sox last 7 games with the total set at 6.5 or lower. 71.40% (7) 4|1 0
- Over is 34-16-2 in Red Sox last 52 games with the total set at 7.0-8.5. 68.00% (52) 2|5 0
- Over is 5-2-1 in Red Sox last 8 games as a road underdog of +201 or greater. 71.40% (8) 5|2 1
Red Sox vs Blue Jays Meeting Trends
- Trend Over is 8-1-1 in the last 10 meetings in Toronto. Hit % 88.90% (10) O/U 8|1 Push 1 W/L
- Over is 11-4-1 in the last 16 meetings. 73.30% (16) 11|4 1
- Red Sox are 20-6 in the last 26 meetings in Toronto. 76.90% (26) 0 20|6
- Red Sox are 37-15 in the last 52 meetings. 71.20% (52) 0 37|15
Get a Signup Bonus of up to $1,000 at the Internets 1st and safest online sportsbook, Intertops