Boston Red Sox (36-43) at Toronto Blue Jays (41-38), 1:07 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Boston Red Sox are breathing life back into their season and look to stay unbeaten in this four-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays Thursday afternoon from Rogers Centre.
The Reds have taken the first two portions of this AL East set and made it three straight wins with Tuesday's 4-3 win behind six strong innings from Eduardo Rodriguez and early run support. Rodriguez held the Jays to a run and four hits, struck out four and walked two.
"He made some quality pitches with men on base," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "He had very good stuff."
Toronto walked in two runners in the first inning, Jackie Bradley Jr. led off the second inning with a home run and David Ortiz did the same in the third for a 4-0 lead. The Blue Jays got on the board in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI single from Chris Colabello and Jose Reyes belted a two-run homer in the seventh.
Blue Jays starting pitcher Marco Estrada lasted only 2 1/3 innings and was reached for four runs -- two earned -- and three hits. The two homers allowed were the nail in the coffin.
"It was just one of those games...where we just weren't able to get anything going," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
Rick Porcello hasn't had much luck in recent starts and gets the call for the Red Sox Wednesday afternoon. Porcello is 0-6 in his last seven starts and Boston had dropped six in a row with him on the hill until Friday's 4-3 win at Tampa Bay. Porcello did not factor in the outcome against the Rays and gave up three runs in six innings.
Porcello, who is 4-8 with a 5.54 earned run average in 15 starts, has a 1-4 mark over eight road starts this season and defeated Toronto back on April 29 in a 4-1 victory, tossing seven innings of two-run ball. In nine career games (8 starts) against the Blue Jays, Porcello is 3-5 with a 4.24 ERA.
Mark Buehrle will try to keep his unbeaten streak going when he takes the mound for the Blue Jays Wednesday. Buehrle is 3-0 with a 2.20 earned run average in his last six starts, with Toronto going 4-2 in that span, and the left-hander fired seven innings of two-run ball in a 12-2 victory over Texas on Friday at Rogers Centre.
Buehrle has pitched seven innings in each of his previous three starts and is 8-4 with a 3.81 ERA through 15 starts this season. He is 5-2 in his last seven decisions and has plenty of experience against the Red Sox in his career, going 10-10 with a 4.34 ERA.
In seven starts at home this season, Buehrle owns a 4-1 mark to go along with a 3.25 ERA.
Boston has won eight of its last 12 games and pulled within six games of the top spot in the AL East. Toronto has lost two in a row following seven wins in 11 games, and sits one game off the pace in the division. New York is only a half-game behind Baltimore and Tampa Bay.
Toronto is 6-5 against Boston this season and swept the Red Sox in three games at Fenway Park from June 12-14.
Ortiz has 38 career home runs at Rogers Centre, the most by a visiting player in the venue's history.