The Toronto Blue Jays used the long ball as per usual on Monday night to take the first of three from their AL East foe, the Boston Red Sox. On Tuesday night, the two teams square off again when Aaron Laffey makes his first start since 2010 for the pitching depleted Jays against Daisuke Matsuzaka who has yet to win a game since returning from Tommy John surgery.
Toronto Blue Jays (38-35) at Boston Red Sox (38-35)
When: 7:10 PM ET, Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Where: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Broadcast: Rogers Sportsnet (Toronto), NESN (Boston)
Blue Jays vs. Red Sox Betting Lines from betonline.com
Spread: Red Sox -1 ½ (+120)
Moneyline: Jays +141: Sox -151
Over/Under: 11 runs
PITCHING MATCHUP:
Blue Jays LH Aaron Laffey (0-0, 3.60 ERA)
Red Sox RH Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2, 6.06)
Jays look to leapfrog Sox in American League East Battle
The Toronto Blue Jays are finding their swings and appear to returning to the form that saw their bats do a ton of damage the last couple of season. Jose Bautista has shrugged off a brutal start and somehow now leads the AL in home runs with 24 (5 homers in his last 7 games!!) – the Jays as a team have hit 16 long balls during the first seven games of their current road trip. Toronto has won 7 of their last 10 games and it hasn’t been because of their strong stable of pitching!
Aaron Laffey starts for Toronto – the left-hander went 3-5 with a 4.81 ERA in 11 starts for Triple-A Las Vegas and has made four appearances out of the bullpen for Toronto so far – 3 innings is his longest outing. It is safe to say that the Sox have to be salivating at the prospect of facing a pitcher that had all sorts of trouble in his career against the Red Sox, boasting an 0-1 record with a 9.28 era in six appearances.
The Boston Red Sox have been decent as of late – the offense is typically fine but the pitching figures to be a bit of a sore spot this evening. Daisuke Matsuzaka has been shaky at best since returning to the lineup. Matsuzaka has allowed 11 runs over his 16 1/3 innings so far this season and he is throwing far too many pitches to get his necessary outs. Matsuzaka hasn’t been all that sharp but he does have a 7-1 record careers versus the Jays with a 3.46 ERA in 12 career starts against them.
Betting Prediction:
This game has slugfest written all over it. It is the AL’ #2 offense (Boston) versus the #3 offense (Toronto) going at it. With Toronto’s offense absolutely on fire, the Jays should prevail once again tonight. CF Colby Rasmus is swinging one of the hottest bats in the majors, hitting .410 (16-for-39) with five home runs and 15 RBIs in his last nine games, Jose Bautista is scorching and the rest of the Jays are playing with a ton of confidence. If the Moneyline scares you a bit, take a look at the Over in this game. The starting pitching is questionable at best in this game and the offenses are very good.
Pick: Toronto Blue Jays +141 and the Over – 11 runs
