[7:10 PM] Blue Jays @ Red Sox

Who will WIN this matchup?

Toronto Blue Jays (87-73)

@ Boston Red Sox (93-67)

 

Starting Pitchers:

Happ (TOR): 20-4; 3.20 ERA

Rodriguez (BOS) 3-7; 4.68 ERA

 

Last 10 Games Played:

Toronto Blue Jays: 5-5

Boston Red Sox: 7-3

 

Current odds:

Toronto Blue Jays: (-113)

Boston Red Sox: (+104)

 

ESPN simulations have Boston as 50.5% favorites to win the game.

70% of sports bets are currently on Toronto to win as (-113) favorites.

Boston is honoring its retiring 40-year-old slugger with pregame ceremonies all weekend long and he responded in Friday’s opener with a tiebreaking two-run shot in the seventh inning to send the Red Sox to a 5-3 comeback win.

Toronto’s third straight loss enabled Baltimore to pull one game ahead in the race for the first wild-card slot and Detroit to close within one-half game of the second. One day after keeping Rick Porcello from notching his 23rd win of the season, the Blue Jays turn to their own first-time 20-game winner in J.A. Happ to keep them ahead of the Tigers.

Happ fired six innings of two-run ball en route to a victory versus the Red Sox on Sept. 10 to improve to 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA against them this season.

The 23-year-old Venezuelan yielded one run across 5 1/3 innings while fanning a career-high 13 and has posted a 3.10 ERA in 13 turns after the All-Star break (as opposed to a 8.59 ERA in six pre-break outings). Rodriguez lost his head-to-head battle with Happ on Sept. 10 after permitting three runs (two earned) in six frames to fall to 1-3 with a 6.85 ERA in four starts against them.

Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia had three hits Friday to give 201 for the season. In doing so, he joined Mookie Betts (212) as the fourth pair of Red Sox teammates to tally at least 200 hits in the same season.

 

StreakSmarts Pick: Toronto Blue Jays

Confidence: 5/10

Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick