Game 160 Preview: Blue Jays at Red Sox

The Red Sox come home for the final three regular season games of the season and still have something to play for. After getting swept by the Yankees, they still need to win two games to lock up the 2nd seed in the American League. The Blue Jays are tied for the Wild Card with the Orioles, who will face off against the Yankees in New York. So instead of the Sox resting their starters for a few games, they will most likely have their postseason roster ready to go this weekend.

Rick Porcello (22-4 3.11) gets his final start of the season and is on track to start game one of the ALDS next Thursday. He's 3-0 against the Jays this season in 4 starts and has pushed himself well past expectations and possibly at the top of the Cy Young award list. Two guys in the Jays lineup give him tremendous amount of trouble though; Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista are hitting a combined .384 in 73 at-bats, with 6 homers and 19 RBIs.

The Jays will send out Marco Estrada (9-9 3.53) who hasn't been exactly what the team had been expecting all season. He's 2-2 against the Sox this season and as mentioned above, they'll need to win these games in order to protect their spot in the postseason. Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez have hit Estrada well in 35 combined at-bats, hitting .343 with 3 doubles and 3 RBIs.


Here is tonight's Red Sox lineup:

Pedroia (2B)
Holt (3B)
Betts (RF)
Ortiz (DH)
Ramirez (1B)
Bogaerts (SS)
Bradley Jr (CF)
Leon (C)
Benintendi (LF)



Quick Hits:

- The Red Sox own the current tiebreaker with the Indians for the ALDS seeding
- Estrada is 2-4 in his last 7 starts with an ERA of 4.66
- David Ortiz will be honored before each of the final three games this series, with gates opening 2 hours before first pitch

Have a question for Mike during the game or whenever a baseball discussion is going on, reach out via Twitter: @86flynn