After John Lackey struck out 12 to complete the two-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies, Jon Lester faces the Blue Jays in hopes the momentum will lift him up, as well.
While Ryan Dempster and Lackey put together solid performances against the Rockies, the Boston bats heated up, too. Wednesday night’s win makes for the fifth straight game the Sox have put up 10 or more hits.
Shane Victorino, David Ortiz and Mike Napoli all drove in one in the series, while Daniel Nava batted in two. All four get the nod to start Thursday with the exception of Napoli. Mike Carp will get the start at first.
The Blue Jays, on the other hand, walk in to the season’s halfway mark just over .500 and at the bottom of the AL East. The team is working its way through a 17-straight game stretch, just coming back from Tampa Bay. The Rays took the first two games of that series, and the Blue Jays pulled it together for a 3-0 win on Wednesday. All three RBIs were split evenly among Melky Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind.
Jose Reyes also made it back into the lineup in the final game against the Rays. Although he went 0-for-4, the shortstop’s first appearance since being placed on the 60-day disabled list is a welcomed sight for Toronto.
Check out the lineups for both teams.
Toronto Blue Jays (39-38)
Jose Reyes, SS
Jose Bautista, RF
Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
Mark DeRosa DH
Melky Cabrera, LF
J.P. Arencibia, C
Rajai Davis, CF
Maicer Izturis, 3B
Bonifacio, 2B
Chien-Ming Wang, RHP
Boston Red Sox (47-33)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Carp, 1B
Daniel Nava, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Stephen Drew, SS
Jose Iglesias, 3B
Jon Lester, LHP
