Boston Red Sox (35-43) at Toronto Blue Jays (41-37), 7:07 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Boston Red Sox were able to shave a game off their deficit in the AL East and target a third straight win Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays in the second test of a four-game series.
The last-place Red Sox handed the Blue Jays a 3-1 loss in Monday's series opener and are now seven games off the lead in the division standings.
Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run double in the third inning to open the scoring and Brock Holt added an RBI single in the fifth for a 3-0 score. Josh Donaldson got the Blue Jays on the board with a run-scoring double in the sixth inning.
Mookie Betts finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and Alejandro De Aza recorded three hits for the Red Sox, who won for the seventh time in the last 11 games and received a fine outing from starting pitcher Clay Buchholz. Buchholz limited the Jays to a run in eight innings, struck out five and did not walk a batter.
"I like pitching here," Buchholz said of the Rogers Centre mound. "I like the mound here. I've said it before, I'm just comfortable on it.
Red Sox outfielder Hanley Ramirez is still bothered by a bruised left hand and could return to the lineup at some point in this series.
"We'll see how the next day to three days goes," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "The optimistic view is that he'd be back in the lineup while we're here in the Toronto."
Boston will send rookie Eduardo Rodriguez to the bump Tuesday and he is 3-2 with a 4.33 earned run average in six starts. Rodriguez has lost two of his last three starts, including Thursday's 8-6 loss to Baltimore in which he gave up six runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Rodriguez threw 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball in a 7-3 win at Kansas City on June 19, one start after allowing nine runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 frames in a 13-5 loss versus Toronto. The lefty is 2-0 with a sparkling 0.45 ERA in three road starts this season.
The Blue Jays had won 18 of their previous 24 games and are still one game off the lead in the AL East. Baltimore and Tampa Bay are in a virtual tie for first and New York is just a half-game behind.
Toronto starter R.A. Dickey was dealt the loss and fell to 3-8 this season after allowing three runs and six hits in six innings.
"It's always frustrating when you give up runs no matter how you give them up," Dickey said. "I'm kind of in a stretch where I'm pitching just good enough to lose."
Devon Travis led Toronto with two hits and scored on Donaldson's two-base hit in the sixth inning.
The Blue Jays have won each of Marco Estrada's last five starts and look to keep the streak going Tuesday. Estrada is 4-0 in that stretch and did not record a decision in Wednesday's 1-0 win at Tampa Bay, as he struck out 10 batters and allowed only two hits in 8 2/3 scoreless innings.
Estrada is 5-3 with a 3.45 earned run average in 16 games (10 starts) and won both of his starts against Boston this season. In four career games (2 starts) against the Red Sox, Estrada is 2-1 with a 4.58 ERA.
Toronto is 6-4 against Boston this season and swept the Red Sox in three games at Fenway Park from June 12-14.