The second half begins at the damp and moldy home of the Red Sox. There are some who think Fenway Park is quaint, but mostly it's old.
The Jays have won 7 of 10 against the Red Sox so far this season, inclusing two of three at Fenway back in April. The Bostons won the opener 2-1 after Eovaldi and Kikuchi turned the game over to the bullpens, scoring the winning run without a hit (Bichette error, groundout, sac fly.) The Jays cruised 6-1 behind Berrios the next day and held off a late Boston rally to take the finale 3-2. The Jays took three of four from Boston in Toronto at the end of April, and another two of three at the end of June. Boston's unvaccinated contingent will be available this time around.
Second baseman Trevor Story is on the IL, and LH Chris Sale will have joined him there by game time. Jeter Downs has been filling for Story - he hasn't shown much with the bat yet (hitting .201/.300/.389 in 166 games at AAA since coming over from the Dodgers in the Mookie Betts deal.) The Red Sox still have what is mostly a three man offense, with Rafael Devers, J.D. Martrinez, and Xander Bogaerts doing the heavy lifting.
Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock are back off the IL, and starters Josh Winckowski and Rich Hill are also expected back shortly. The state of Kike Hernandez' hip is a little more mysterious. In the final week before the break, Alex Cora moved Jackie Bradley back into centre field, with Jarren Duran switching to right field.
The Blue Jays have 69 games left, and it goes like this. The rest of July and August will be a challenge, the next 31 games in particular. More than half will be in the division, and Detroit is the only team playing below .500:
at BOS 3
STL 2
DET 4
at TBR 2
at MIN 4
at BAL 3
CLE 3
BAL 3
at NYY 4
at BOS 3
Then, it eases up a little:
LAA 3
CHC 3
at PIT 3
at BAL 3
at TEX 3
Then 9 games with Tampa Bay in two weeks:
TBR 5
BAL 3
at PHI 2
at TBR 4
And full throttle to the finish. Should be an adventure.
NYY 3
BOS 3
at BAL 3
Matchups
Fri 22 July - Gausman (6-7, 2.87) vs Eovaldi (4-2, 3.34)
Sat 23 July - Manoah (10-4, 2.28) vs Crawford (2-2, 4.50)
Sun 24 July - Stripling (5-3, 3.03) vs Bello (0-1, 10.13)
The Jays have won 7 of 10 against the Red Sox so far this season, inclusing two of three at Fenway back in April. The Bostons won the opener 2-1 after Eovaldi and Kikuchi turned the game over to the bullpens, scoring the winning run without a hit (Bichette error, groundout, sac fly.) The Jays cruised 6-1 behind Berrios the next day and held off a late Boston rally to take the finale 3-2. The Jays took three of four from Boston in Toronto at the end of April, and another two of three at the end of June. Boston's unvaccinated contingent will be available this time around.
Second baseman Trevor Story is on the IL, and LH Chris Sale will have joined him there by game time. Jeter Downs has been filling for Story - he hasn't shown much with the bat yet (hitting .201/.300/.389 in 166 games at AAA since coming over from the Dodgers in the Mookie Betts deal.) The Red Sox still have what is mostly a three man offense, with Rafael Devers, J.D. Martrinez, and Xander Bogaerts doing the heavy lifting.
Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock are back off the IL, and starters Josh Winckowski and Rich Hill are also expected back shortly. The state of Kike Hernandez' hip is a little more mysterious. In the final week before the break, Alex Cora moved Jackie Bradley back into centre field, with Jarren Duran switching to right field.
Yusei Kikuchi is making a rehab start in Buffalo tonight. It will be his first minor league game.
at BOS 3
STL 2
DET 4
at TBR 2
at MIN 4
at BAL 3
CLE 3
BAL 3
at NYY 4
at BOS 3
Then, it eases up a little:
LAA 3
CHC 3
at PIT 3
at BAL 3
at TEX 3
Then 9 games with Tampa Bay in two weeks:
TBR 5
BAL 3
at PHI 2
at TBR 4
And full throttle to the finish. Should be an adventure.
NYY 3
BOS 3
at BAL 3
Matchups
Fri 22 July - Gausman (6-7, 2.87) vs Eovaldi (4-2, 3.34)
Sat 23 July - Manoah (10-4, 2.28) vs Crawford (2-2, 4.50)
Sun 24 July - Stripling (5-3, 3.03) vs Bello (0-1, 10.13)
