The Toronto Blue Jays (39-38) who had an 11-game winning streak snapped by the Rays, were propped back up by R.A. Dickey yesterday, who gave them an ace-like effort in tossing a complete game shutout. Tonight, the Jays embark on a four-game set with the Boston Red Sox (47-33), who lead the American League East. The game can be live streamed here. Blue Jays fans can hear the action on SN590, while Red Sox fans can tune in to WEEI 93.7.
The Blue Jays will send Chien-Ming Wang (1-0, 2.18 ERA) to the mound. Wang has been a very nice surprise this year. After back-to-back 19-win seasons with the Yankees, Wang was 8-2 in 2008 before badly injuring his foot running the bases. He was never the same after the injury, pitching poorly for the Yankees, and Washington Nationals before landing in Toronto.
This year, however, the Wang of old appears to be back. The old ground-ball pitcher is only striking out 4.4 batters per nine innings, which is a low number for most starters, but not Wang.
In fact, he's pitched better lately than tonight's opponent, Jon Lester (7-4, 4.57 ERA), who began 2013 on fire but has really cooled off. Red Sox manager John Farrell expects a bounce back from his left-handed ace soon saying, "I don't think (the) stretch he's on will continue. He's too talented of a pitcher."
In June, Lester is 1-2, with a ghastly 8.44 ERA and even more unsightly 2.156 WHIP. His eyesore-inducing June numbers are puzzling, because he'd been dominant in April and May, going 6-2 with an ERA well under 4.00.
The Red Sox may have a nice edge on Toronto in the standings, but Farrell sees them charging and doesn't expect them to slow down. "They're pitching much more consistently of late over the last month. Their bullpen has been outstanding, and they're getting more consistent starting pitching. I think everyone fully anticipated them scoring a lot of runs, but over the stretch that they're on, you can point to their pitching as being much improved."
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