I will take another shot with the Blue Jays who have dropped the first two games of this series against Boston. The offense has carried Toronto all season long but it is the pitching that has been dominant of late as the ERA is a blistering 2.43 over its last 10 games and it has allowed 3.0 rpg over this span. The Red Sox have been almost unbeatable at home recently, winning 14 of their last 16 games and this line reflects that as opposed to the short line last night. I always say that big lines are meant for either teams that are dominant over the other or starting pitchers that are dominant also and neither is the case here. Toronto is still in first place in the American League East by a half-game and it is above .500 on the road still so winning away from home is no issue.

The Blue Jays send Robert Ray to the hill and he is coming off his best performance of his young career as he held the White Sox to just three hits and one unearned run over eight innings. In his opener, he was a third of an inning short of a quality start so two of his three outings have been solid with the one game against the Angels being his only bad performance. This is his first start against the Red Sox whose offense has been anything but potent as they had scored four runs or fewer in seven of their previous eight games prior to last night. Boston counters with Jon Lester who is having a tough season. He has a 6.51 ERA and 1.62 WHIP in his first eight starts including a 6.04 ERA and 1.66 WHIP in four home outings. He has allowed five runs or more in five of his eight starts including the last two and he now faces a lineup that is hitting lefties at a .306 clip, third best in the Majors.

The Blue Jays are 39-12 in their last 51 games after allowing five runs or more in their previous game so this is a great spot for the recently excellent pitching to bounce back and help salvage one game from this series before Interleague play gets underway over the holiday weekend. 3* Toronto Blue Jays