The Blue Jays slugger has been in the big leagues for eight years and has played roles on five different teams. A lot of mystery surrounds the lifetime ballpark pass, but based on the inscription they are given “in appreciation of long and meritorious service” to the league.

The cards have been presented to players, umpires, scouts and other friends of MLB as far back as the 1930s, according to Buzzfeed Sports. The cardholder has access to any Major League Baseball game for the duration of his life and he is allowed to bring one guest to games.

Check out Bautista’s unique hardware in the photo below.

Photo via Instagram/JoeyBats19

The Maple Leafs defenseman took a Milan Lucic shot to the forehead and required surgery to repair a broken bone in “his cranial area.” Days after the surgery rook place, a Reddit user uploaded a photo of what he or she claims to be Fraser’s CT scan from St. Michael’s Hospital. The user, however, has been erased from Reddit.com, and the hospital claims it followed proper procedures and never released it to the public, according to NationalPost.com.

“St. Michael’s can release images only to a patient or the patient’s requesting physician,” the hospital said in a release Monday. “We investigated today whether this scan had been released inappropriately. Our investigation showed that proper procedures were followed.”

Check out the graphic photo by clicking here, and see video of when Fraser was hit below.

Final, Blue Jays 12-4:

Toronto’s offense was all over Boston’s pitching on Sunday, crushing five home runs en route to a 12-4 victory at Fenway. Jose Bautista connected for two home runs, and Emilio Bonifacio, Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Lawrie each blasted one.

The Red Sox went 2-5 during the homestand, and they have now lost eight of their last 10 games.

Mid 9th, Blue Jays 12-4: Jose De La Torre will obviously never forget his big league debut. He’ll want to forget the results, though.

De La Torre, who was called up on Thursday when Joel Hanrahan was transferred to the 60-day disable list and Allen Webster was optioned back to Triple-A Pawtucket, gave up two runs in the ninth inning. Then again, there’s really no shame in tha given how the Blue Jays have been swinging the bats.

Melky Cabrera led off with a double and Jose Bautista walked. Edwin Encarnacion then shot a ball into right field that scored Cabrera. Bautista scored when J.P. Arencibia grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

One thing worth noting is that De La Torre has a rather interesting pitching style from the stretch. He brings his front foot up toward the rubber three times before delivering a pitch. It isn’t a balk, but it’s certainly unorthodox.

End 8th, Blue Jays 10-4: The Red Sox had a chance to do some damage with the bases loaded and one out, but Brett Cecil did a nice job of settling things down.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia stepped up with the bags packed, and Cecil got the Red Sox catcher to break his bat on a sinker down in the zone. It nearly resulted in a double play, but instead ended with a force out that scored Boston’s fourth run.

Will Middlebrooks grounded into a 5-4 force out to end the inning, and that Mother’s Day Miracle is looking a bit far-fetched at this point.

On the bright side, Red Sox fans will get to see Jose De La Torre for the first time. He’ll make his major league debut in the ninth inning.

4:27 p.m., Blue Jays 10-3: We’ve seen a Mother’s Day Miracle in Boston before. Is there another one coming?

Pedro Ciriaco led off the eighth inning with a home run. (Must be the switch to first base.) The Red Sox have since loaded the bases, and the Blue Jays are bringing in Brett Cecil with one out.

Mid 8th, Blue Jays 10-2: That’s two straight 1-2-3 innings for Red Sox pitching.

Craig Breslow entered the game in the eighth, and he took down Colby Rasmus, Emilio Bonifacio and Munenori Kawasaki in order.

Pedro Ciriaco actually looked like a first baseman on Rasmus’ ground ball to begin the inning. He made a nice play ranging toward the line and flipped to Breslow to finish off the play.

End 7th, Blue Jays 10-2: It was a quick and easy inning for Aaron Loup.

Loup struck out Will Middlebrooks and Stephen Drew swinging before retiring Jacoby Ellsbury on a ground out to first.

Craig Breslow will be the next Red Sox pitcher to try and keep the Blue Jays in the ballpark.

Mid 7th, Blue Jays 10-2: Clayton Mortensen kept the Blue Jays off the scoreboard for the first time since the first inning in the seventh.

Toronto scored in each of the previous five innings — including more than one run in three of those innings — but Mortensen bounced back from a shaky sixth to retire the side in order.

The Sox made some changes prior to the inning. Jonny Gomes, who pinch-hit for Mike Carp in the sixth, took over in left field, which shifted Daniel Nava over to right. Shane Victorino, who banged into the fence earlier, was taken out of the game. The decision to take out Victorino certainly makes sense given the situation.

That meant the Red Sox needed someone to play first base, though, and with the score 10-2, manager John Farrell decided to go with Pedro Ciriaco. Ciriaco showed some shaky footwork around the bag in the inning, but hey, now’s the time to test out some things, I suppose.

End 6th, Blue Jays 10-2: The Red Sox scored a run in the sixth, but it’ll take more than one-run frames to get them back in this one, especially when the inning starts off so promising.

Dustin Pedroia singled and Mike Napoli doubled to begin the inning, which forced Blue Jays manager John Gibbons to turn to the bullpen. Aaron Loup replaced Chad Jenkins.

Daniel Nava drove in the run with a sac fly to right, but that’s just not going to cut it at this point. The Red Sox need to start stringing some things together, otherwise this game might only get worse.

Mid 6th, Blue Jays 10-1: For as bad as the Blue Jays have been this season, there’s one thing they do well: hit the ball over the fence.

The Jays have now accomplished that feat five times in this contest, as Jose Bautista connected on his second home run of the game to give Toronto a commanding 10-1 lead.

Clayton Mortensen took over with two runners on after Andrew Miller struggled to begin the inning, and he hardly fared any better. After Emilio Bonifacio and Munenori Kawasaki executed a text book double steal, Melky Cabrera drilled a sharply hit fly ball to the edge of the warning track in left field, which plated Bonifacio with Toronto’s third run.

Bautista then took a hanging slider and bashed it into the front row of the Green Monster seats. It’s an all-out assault at Fenway.

3:30 p.m., Blue Jays 7-1: Andrew Miller came on, struggled and now the Red Sox will make another pitching change.

Miller gave up a leadoff home run to Brett Lawrie. It’s been one of those days, as Lawrie’s homer is Toronto’s fourth of the game. Emilio Bonifacio, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion have also gone deep.

Miller retired Colby Rasmus on a line drive to center, but Bonifacio singled and Munenori Kawasaki walked, and the lefty’s day is done.

Clayton Mortensen is coming in for Boston.

End 5th, Blue Jays 6-1: The Red Sox got a runner into scoring position, but the score remains the same.

Stephen Drew walked with one out and stole second base as Jacoby Ellsbury struck out swinging. Shane Victorino, batting for the first time since his collision with the right-field fence, lifted a short fly ball into left field. Third baseman Brett Lawrie went out and left fielder Melky Cabrera came in, and it was Cabrera who made the play.

It looks as if the Red Sox are calling upon Andrew Miller, which means Ryan Dempster’s day is over.

Dempster went five innings, surrendering six runs (all earned) on seven hits. He struck out six, walked one and gave up three home runs. Throw this outing in the “shaky” bin.

Mid 5th, Blue Jays 6-1: Toronto’s lead is back up to five runs after Edwin Encarnacion went deep in the fifth.

Jose Bautista — who also homered in this game — grounded out to begin the inning, but Encarnacion got back the run the Blue Jays gave up in the fourth. He turned on a splitter and drove it out of the yard down the left-field line. It’s Encarnacion’s 11th blast of the year.

J.P. Arencibia and Adam Lind each struck out to end the inning.

End 4th, Blue Jays 5-1: The Red Sox are on the scoreboard.

Mike Napoli blasted a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fourth. The home run is his seventh of the year, and it landed on top of the camera area above the center-field wall.

Napoli’s dinger is his first since May 1, when he went deep twice up in Toronto. Five of his seven home runs this season have come against the Blue Jays.

The Red Sox didn’t do any damage beyond Napoli’s blast. Daniel Nava and Jarrod Saltalamacchia grounded out, and Mike Carp flied out.

Mid 4th, Blue Jays 5-0: No one will ever question Shane Victorino’s toughness.

Victorino slammed — and I really mean SLAMMED — into the right-field fence while trying to make a leaping catch, and amazingly, he’s staying in the game.

Emilio Bonifacio sent a fly ball back toward the bullpen. Victorino ran back and — with no regard for the wall — tried to rob Bonifacio of a home run. Victorino’s ribs crashed into the wall, and his glove — and the ball — went flying into the ‘pen.

At first, it was reasonable to assume Victorino would be taken out of the game. He laid on the ground in pain as his teammates, John Farrell and Boston’s medical staff tended to him. After a few moments on the ground, though, Victorino got back to his feet and took his spot in right field.

To give you an indication of just how hard Victorino hit the wall, I heard the thump from the last row of the press box, which is located behind home plate.

Bonifacio’s home run extended Toronto’s lead to 5-0.

End 3rd, Blue Jays 3-0: The Red Sox’ recent trend continues. They keep putting runners on base, but they can’t find a way to drive them in.

The Red Sox’ rally in the third was cut short by an inning-ending double play. Dustin Pedroia, who has been Boston’s most productive hitter lately, bounced into the 6-4-3 twin killing after Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorino reached with one out.

Ellsbury singled sharply into center, and Victorino followed with a swinging bunt. In fact, if Victorino had actually been bunting, it would have been a perfect bunt single. His little dribbler off the end of the bat rolled up the third-base line and came to a stop directly on the line, allowing him to reach.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, that little cue shot didn’t spark much.

Mid 3rd, Blue Jays 3-0: Jose Bautista didn’t wait around in the third. The always dangerous slugger crushed Ryan Dempster’s first pitch of the inning into the top row of the Green Monster.

Bautista’s home run is his eighth of the season, and he’s now reached base safely in 18 of his last 19 games.

Dempster settled down after the long ball to retire the next three hitters, but the Blue Jays are putting some good swings on the ball. In addition to the damage they’ve done, the Jays have hit some hard foul balls and hit into some hard outs.

Dustin Pedroia made a nice play to rob Edwin Encarnacion of a hit in the third inning. Encarnacion shot what he thought was a base hit up the middle, but Pedroia picked it on the back hand and fired to first for the first out.

J.P. Arencibia grounded out and Adam Lind flied out to end the inning.

End 2nd, Blue Jays 2-0: For the second time, the Red Sox received a two-out double. And for the second time, they failed to score.

Chad Jenkins got two quick outs against Daniel Nava and Mike Carp before Jarrod Saltalamacchia ripped a double into right field. The ball kicked off the warning track and up into the seats.

Salty has now appeared behind the plate in nine of the Red Sox’ last 10 games. He’s 9-for-23 in that stretch, and his workload should continue to be heavy now that David Ross has been placed on the seven-day concussion list.

The inning ended with Will Middlebrooks grounding out to short.

Mid 2nd, Blue Jays 2-0: Ryan Dempster’s pitch count is soaring early, and making matters worse for Boston is that the Blue Jays posted two runs in the second inning.

Dempster was one strike away from escaping a laborious inning, but Munenori Kawasaki ripped a 3-2 slider into right field and the Jays have jumped out to an early lead.

The inning started with Adam Lind — Saturday’s hero — singling into center field. Dempster looked to grab some control from there, striking out both Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus. Lawrie went down looking at a slider, while Rasmus was rung up on a cutter from Dempster.

Following the back-to-back K’s, things got interesting, though. Emilio Bonifacio shot a two-out double down the right-field line to set up runners at second and third, and Kawasaki made Dempster pay following a seven-pitch battle.

Dempster has already thrown 48 pitches.

End 1st, 0-0: Dustin Pedroia is heating up.

The Red Sox second baseman entered the game hitting .481 (13-for-27) over his last seven games. The stretch raised his average from .293 to .329, and he is tied for first in the American League with 16 multi-hit games.

Pedroia connected on a two-out double that one-hopped off the Green Monster in the first inning. The Red Sox didn’t take advantage of the two-bagger, though, as Mike Napoli grounded out to short to end the inning.

Prior to Pedroia’s double, Jacoby Ellsbury popped out to second and Shane Victorino lined out sharply to center.

Mid 1st, 0-0: Will Middlebrooks made a couple of nice barehanded plays on Saturday. He was primed to make another one in the first inning, but his throw sailed into the Red Sox’ dugout.

Fortunately for Boston, the error didn’t hurt. Ryan Dempster took care of business and kept the Blue Jays scoreless in their first cracks at the right-hander.

Dempster started the game by striking out Melky Cabrera. Dempster tried to put the outfielder away with a fastball and missed, but he came back with a nasty splitter to pick up the K.

Edwin Encarnacion reached on the ground ball to Middlebrooks. It was ruled a single and an error, which allowed him to advance to second base.

Encarnacion then advanced to third on a passed ball, but Dempster got J.P. Arencibia to ground out softly to second base to end the inning.

1:40 p.m.: Ryan Dempster’s first pitch is right down the middle, and we’re off and running…

1:30 p.m.: David Ross got a little dinged up during Saturday’s game, and he’ll need some rest.

The Red Sox announced that Ross has been placed on the seven-day concussion list. Ryan Lavarnway has been recalled to take his place.

1:15 p.m.: Ryan Dempster enters Sunday’s contest with a 1-0 record and 4.12 ERA (nine earned runs in 19 2/3 innings) in four career games against the Blue Jays.

As a matter of fact, Dempster, a native of British Columbia, is undefeated against Canadian clubs in his career. He’s 6-0 (5-0 versus Montreal) against those north of the border.

12:20 p.m.: Before our focus really starts to shift to baseball, I’d just like to take a minute and wish all you moms out there a happy Mother’s Day.

Love you, Ma.

11:30 a.m.: David Ortiz started the season like a house on fire, hitting .500 (18-for-36) with three home runs and 15RBIs in nine April games. He has struggled of late, though, hitting just .179 (7-for-39) in May.

Ortiz will get the day off on Sunday, which is a move designed to get the slugger back-to-back days off — the Red Sox have an off day on Monday. That means Mike Napoli will become the team’s DH — which should also give him some rest — and bat cleanup.

Mike Carp will be in Boston’s starting lineup. He’ll play first base and bat sixth.

The rest of Sunday’s lineups are below.

Red Sox (22-15)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Mike Napoli, DH
Daniel Nava, LF
Mike Carp, 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Stephen Drew, SS

Ryan Dempster (2-3, 2.93 ERA)

Blue Jays (14-24)
Melky Cabrera, LF
Jose Bautista, RF
Edwin Encarnacion, DH
J.P. Arencibia, C
Adam Lind, 1B
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Colby Rasmus, CF
Emilio Bonifacio, 2B
Munenori Kawasaki, SS

Chad Jenkins, RHP (0-0, —)

8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox were hoping Jon Lester’s one-hit shutout on Friday would send them back down a winning path. The club experienced another hiccup on Saturday, though, and now they face a rubber match with the Blue Jays on Sunday.

The Red Sox were unable to get to Mark Buehrle on Saturday, but they rallied for two runs in the eighth inning. As quick as the Sox tied the game, the Jays grabbed the lead right back. Adam Lind sent Junichi Tazawa’s hanging slider over the center-field fence in the ninth inning, and Toronto walked away with a 3-2 win.

Boston’s inability to generate offense — or more accurately, push across runs when they got runners on base — spoiled what was another solid start for Clay Buchholz. The right-hander really had only one rough frame, and he went eight innings without factoring in the decision.

Ryan Dempster will be the one called upon for Boston on Sunday. He’s pitched well this season, although he suffered the loss behind some spotty defense against the Twins on Tuesday.

Sunday’s first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. Be sure to tune in on NESN, and keep it right here for all sorts of other Sunday madness.

Final, Blue Jays 3-2:

The Red Sox showed plenty of fight by rallying for two runs in the eighth inning to tie the game, but a huge home run by Adam Lind off Junichi Tazawa in the ninth was the difference.

Clay Buchholz and Mark Buehrle each turned in a solid outing, but neither pitcher factored in the decision. Buehrle pitched seven innings before the Sox got to Darren Oliver in the eighth, and Buchholz pitched eight frames.

The Red Sox, who were hoping to get back on track after Jon Lester’s one-hit gem on Friday night, have now lost seven of their last nine games. They’ll face the Blue Jays in a rubber match on Sunday. Ryan Dempster will go up against Brandon Morrow, and the action will start up at 1:35 p.m.

Good night, everyone.

Mid 9th, Blue Jays 3-2: It took one batter for the Blue Jays to recapture the lead in the ninth inning.

Junichi Tazawa took over after eight solid innings from Clay Buchholz, and Adam Lind welcomed him to the ballgame in a big way. Lind stayed back on a hanging slider and blasted it over the center-field wall to give the Jays a 3-2 lead.

Tazawa quickly got ahead in the count against Lind. He fooled him with a curveball to run the count to 0-2, but Lind battled from there, laying off two pitches and fouling off another before jumping all over the sixth pitch he saw.

Brett Lawrie followed up with a single down the right-field line, but he was wiped off the bases on a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play with Colby Rasmus at the dish.

Will Middlebrooks, Stephen Drew and David Ross are due up against Casey Janssen in the ninth inning.

End 8th, 2-2: All the Red Sox needed was Mark Buehrle out of the game.

After Buehrle exited following a leadoff walk by David Ross, the Red Sox put up two runs to tie the ballgame.

Darren Oliver was the man called upon to replace Buehrle, and he immediately ran into trouble when Jacoby Ellsbury drilled an 0-1 fastball over Colby Rasmus’ head in center field. Ross scored all the way from first base, and Ellsbury motored his way into third with a standup triple.

Shane Victorino struck out swinging for the first out, but Ellsbury scored when shortstop Munenori Kawasaki couldn’t handle a hot shot off the bat of Dustin Pedroia.

Pedroia, who represented the potential go-ahead run, moved into scoring position by stealing second base. Oliver ensured the game remained tied, though. He struck out David Ortiz,  and then struck out Jonny Gomes after intentionally walking Mike Napoli with first base open.

4:35 p.m., Blue Jays 2-0: David Ross put up a fantastic at-bat to lead off the eighth inning. He worked a nine-pitch walk, and that’ll do it for Mark Buehrle, who leaves after a job well done.

The ageless Darren Oliver is coming on to pitch for Toronto.

Mid 8th, Blue Jays 2-0: Clay Buchholz and J.P. Arencibia had themselves a little battle at the tail end of the eighth inning. Buchholz emerged victorious, and we’re still looking at a 2-0 game.

Arencibia stepped in with two outs and Jose Bautista — who singled two batters prior — on first. The Blue Jays catcher fell behind 1-2, but he didn’t go down easy. Arencibia fouled off three pitches and laid off a very close pitch on the inside corner before Buchholz finally won the battle by dropping in a curveball.

That might be the afternoon for Buchholz, who has thrown 101 pitches. Junichi Tazawa started warming up in the Red Sox’ bullpen, and John Farrell may opt to go with him in the ninth.

End 7th, Blue Jays 2-0: This is by far Mark Buehrle’s best start of the season.

Buehrle had another very quick frame in the seventh. All three outs were ground-ball outs as Jonny Gomes, Will Middlebrooks and Stephen Drew went down in order.

Buehrle, like Buchholz, has a manageable pitch count going. He’s thrown 96 pitches through seven innings, and more importantly, the results have been very impressive.

Buehrle entered the game with a 7.02 ERA. He allowed five runs or more in five of his seven starts, and only once did he pitch seven innings.

Mid 7th, Blue Jays 2-0: We’re rolling at Fenway right now, as the innings are coming and going at a rapid pace. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, they find themselves on the losing end of a 2-0 contest.

Clay Buchholz enjoyed a 1-2-3 inning on nine pitches in the seventh. The right-hander experienced a hiccup in the third and fourth innings, but he’s otherwise been solid.

Colby Rasmus — who had an RBI earlier — and Munenori Kawasaki each grounded out to first base in the inning. Emilio Bonifacio flied out in-between.

Buchholz has thrown 87 pitches, so there’s a chance we could see him go the distance if he stays settled in. There’s currently no action in the Boston bullpen. Amazingly, 26 of those pitches came in the third inning alone.

End 6th, Blue Jays 2-0: Mark Buehrle has really settled in.

Buehrle retired the side in order again in the sixth inning. This time, it took the lefty 12 pitches to take of business.

Dustin Pedroia grounded back to the mound and David Ortiz flied out. Buehrle ended the inning by striking out Mike Napoli for the second time.

Mid 6th, Blue Jays 2-0: The pace is definitely picking up, which is probably a good thing considering the overcast conditions.

Clay Buchholz needed just nine pitches to record three straight outs — two of which were ground-ball outs — in the sixth.

I mentioned earlier that Will Middlebrooks, despite some defensive shortcomings, tends to charge balls really well. Perhaps it’s his work with Mike Lowell in the offseason paying off, or perhaps it’s something he developed on his own. Whatever the case, he made his second impressive barehanded play of the game in the sixth inning. J.P. Arencibia hit a slow roller that Middlebrooks scooped up with a gloveless palm before delivering a very strong throw to first.

Adam Lind bounced to first base for the second out. Mike Napoli made the play on the back hand, and he actually had to make a pretty lengthy toss to Buchholz, who was covering the bag. It wasn’t a huge throw, but it forced Napoli to go overhand.

Brett Lawrie hit a tailing line drive to Shane Victorino to end the inning.

End 5th, Blue Jays 2-0: Mark Buehrle needed just seven pitches to complete another scoreless inning in the fifth.

David Ross led off with a ground ball in the hole that shortstop Munenori Kawasaki took care of on the back hand. Kawasaki followed up the assist with a put out when the next hitter, Jacoby Ellbury, popped up in the infield.

Shane Victorino was aggressive, jumping on a first-pitch fastball with two outs. He got under it, though, and Colby Rasmus hauled it in in center field.

Mid 5th, Blue Jays 2-0: Clay Buchholz flashed a little leather in the fifth inning.

All too often, we see pitchers get injured because they instinctively stick up their bare hand on comebackers to the mound. In the fifth, Munenori Kawasaki led off with hot smash up the middle. Fortunately, Buchholz didn’t stick out his bare hand. Instead, he managed to twist his body and get a glove on it. Not only did that free him from injury, but it led to an out at first base.

Buchholz issued a two-out walk to Jose Bautista, but that was Toronto’s only baserunner. Edwin Encarnacion grounded out to third base to end the inning.

End 4th, Blue Jays 2-0: Even though the Red Sox haven’t scored, they’ve had some chances. That wasn’t the case in the fourth inning, though.

Mark Buehrle retired the Red Sox in order. Jonny Gomes popped out, Will Middlebrooks struck out and Stephen Drew grounded out.

Buehrle got Middlebrooks swinging on a changeup for his fourth strikeout. It capped off a sequence of three straight offspeed pitches after two fastballs to begin the at-bat.

Mid 4th, Blue Jays 2-0: The Blue Jays looked much more comfortable in the box against Clay Buchholz during the last two frames. Toronto added a second run in the fourth inning.

Adam Lind led off with his second hit of the game — a single into left field. He advanced to second on what was essentially a swinging bunt by Brett Lawrie. Will Middlebrooks had to charge in to field Lawrie’s slow roller, and he made a very nice barehanded play to record the out at first. Middlebrooks has struggled a bit defensively of late, but charging in and using the bare hand is one thing he’s done well.

Colby Rasmus knocked in the run with a single into right field. Shane Victorino — who leads the Red Sox in outfield assists — charged in and had thoughts of throwing out Lind at the plate, but he bobbled the ball, which allowed Lind to score standing up.

Emilio Bonifacio ended the inning by grounding into a double play.

End 3rd, Blue Jays 1-0: The Red Sox have five hits but nothing to show for them.

Two of Boston’s hits came in the third inning, although the first ended with an out.

Dustin Pedroia smacked a line drive into left field that got by Melky Cabrera and bounced to the wall. Pedroia tried to stretch the hit into a double, but Cabrera came up firing with a good throw to nail Pedey at second.

David Ortiz, who entered the game 0-for-13 over his last three games, singled into center field with two outs. Mark Buehrle got out of the inning by striking out Mike Napoli.

Mid 3rd, Blue Jays 1-0: Clay Buchholz was shaky in the third inning, and the Blue Jays put up a run on two hits and two walks.

Colby Rasmus walked to begin the inning. Clay Buchholz bounced back to strike out Emilio Bonifacio with a nice-looking four-seamer on the outside corner, but some trouble ensued after that.

Munenori Kawasaki dropped down a bunt. David Ross came out from behind the plate to gun down Kawasaki just in time, but the bunt did the job in advancing Rasmus to second base. That was big, as Rasmus scored when the next batter, Melky Cabrera, lined a single into left field.

The Blue Jays built on their threat some more. Jose Bautista singled and Edwin Encarnacion walked to load the bases. Fortunately for the Sox, Buchholz escaped any additional damage by retiring J.P. Arencibia on a fly out to right

Buchholz’s biggest problem in the third inning was his control. All things considered, the Red Sox are lucky to only be facing a one-run deficit.

End 2nd, 0-0: The second inning was similar to the first inning for the Red Sox’ offense. Boston put two runners on with one out, but failed to score.

On the bright side for Boston, Will Middlebrooks is starting to show some offensive improvement despite battling a rib issue. He connected for two doubles on Friday, and he went the other way down the right-field line to pick up a double in the second inning of this one.

Stephen Drew was his usual patient self after that. He worked a five-pitch walk to set up runners at first and second, but Mark Buehrle battled back from that point on.

Buehrle went to the curveball to strike out David Ross. The pitched clocked in at 72 mph, and it looked even slower than that. I thought I was checking out a Backyard Baseball slo-mo ball firsthand.

Jacoby Ellsbury ended the inning by grounding to first. The ground ball produced a rather tricky in-between hop, but Adam Lind fielded it cleanly and flipped to Buehrle for the out.

Mid 2nd, 0-0: We won’t have any near-perfect game drama in this one, as the Blue Jays put a runner on in the second inning. Clay Buchholz made sure Toronto didn’t do much with him, though.

J.P. Arencibia grounded out to first base for the first out of the inning, and Adam Lind — who entered Friday’s game once Rajai Davis left with an injury — singled into right-center. As quickly as Lind got on the bases, he was wiped right off.

Brett Lawrie grounded to second base to kick off an easy, inning-ending, 4-6-3 double play.

End 1st, 0-0: The Red Sox’ offense struggled mightily with runners on base before breaking out for a four-run seventh inning on Friday. The unit isn’t off to the greatest start in that department in this one.

After Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a ground out to second base, Shane Victorino dropped a bunt down the third-base line. It’s something we’ve seen Victorino do a few times this season when the third baseman is playing back, and it resulted in a one-out single this time around.

Dustin Pedroia followed up with a single — of the regular variety — and that put runners at first and second for David Ortiz. Ortiz couldn’t capitalize, though, and neither could Mike Napoli. Ortiz flied out to right and Napoli flied out to left-center.

Mid 1st, 0-0: The 51-minute rain delay didn’t mess with Clay Buchholz’s head at all. The right-hander looked very sharp in the first inning.

Buchholz retired the side in order, and picked up two strikeouts in the process. He struck out both Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista, who each moved up in the lineup on Saturday because of Rajai Davis’ injury.

Buchholz made quick work of Cabrera to begin the game. He started the Toronto left fielder off with a fastball on the outside corner, and then dropped in a curveball for the second strike. That had Cabrera thinking fastball, and Buchholz caught him off balance with a changeup down and away.

Buchholz picked up two strikes on fastballs against Bautista before going to the curveball to sit the slugger down looking. Edwin Encarnacion flied out to right field on the first pitch he saw to end the inning.

2:26 p.m.: Clay Buchholz paints the outside black with his first pitch after a 51-minute delay, and we’re under way.

2:20 p.m.: Before we get started, let’s take a look at how Clay Buchholz has fared against the Blue Jays. Close your eyes, Toronto fans.

Buchholz owns a 2.42 ERA (27 earned runs in 100 1/3 innings) in his career against the Jays. That’s his second-lowest mark against any American League club — he owns a 2.20 ERA against the Royals — and it’s the third-lowest mark against the Blue Jays by any active pitcher with at least 100 innings versus Toronto.

Then again, there aren’t a whole lot of teams who have had success against Buchholz recently. He owns a 2.93 ERA in his last 27 starts (dating back to May 27, 2012).

1:55 p.m.: The tarp is coming off the field, and the expected start time is 2:25 p.m. Plan accordingly, folks.

1:30 p.m.: Here’s some bad news. The tarp is on the field as the rain begins to fall. Hopefully, it will pass, but this could be a long afternoon. Stick around.

1:15 p.m.: Fun fact: Ohio State football head coach Urban Meyer is at the game.

12:55 p.m.: We’ll be coming up on game time real soon, which means this is generally the time when I ramble on about something from across the league. After this week, how can that something not be the umpiring?

The league office was certainly busy apologizing for umpiring screw-ups this week — first with Angel Hernandez’s blown call on Wednesday and then with Fieldin Culbreth and Co.’s brain fart when it came to the rule book on Thursday.

Major League Baseball took an unusual step in suspending Culbreth for two games, while fining the rest of the crew. It’s a rather unusual move, but it’s one I think had to be made. I generally like to give umpires the benefit of the doubt, but at some point, they must be held accountable, especially when something so basic becomes an issue.

Click here for an opinion on Culbreth’s suspension >>

12:40 p.m.: Jonny Gomes will be in the Red Sox’ starting lineup with left-hander Mark Buehrle on the hill. He’ll bat sixth and play left field.

There is a pretty big change to the Blue Jays’ lineup. Rajai Davis has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique. Davis, who left Friday’s game, said the injury has been nagging him since earlier this week. Melky Cabrera will bat leadoff in Davis’ absence, and Jose Bautista will move up to the No. 2 spot — which is rather unconventional for such a power hitter.

The rest of Saturday’s lineups are below.

Red Sox (22-14)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Jonny Gomes, LF
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Stephen Drew, SS
David Ross, C

Clay Buchholz, RHP (6-0, 1.60 ERA)

Blue Jays (13-24)
Melky Cabrera, LF
Jose Bautista, RF
Edwin Encarnacion, DH
J.P. Arencibia, C
Adam Lind, 1B
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Colby Rasmus, CF
Emilio Bonifacio, 2B
Munenori Kawasaki, SS

Mark Buehrle, LHP (1-2, 7.02 ERA)

12:15 p.m.: It’s official. Joel Hanrahan’s season is over.

Hanrahan said Saturday that after getting a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, he has decided to undergo season-ending surgery. Hanrahan, who was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on Thursday, has a torn flexor muscle tendon.

The typical recovery time for surgery on the flexor muscle tendon is six- to nine months, but Hanrahan is not setting a timetable for his return to the mound at this point. There’s still a chance that doctors could determine he needs Tommy John surgery, which would lengthen the necessary recovery/rehab period. Hanrahan expects to undergo surgery sometime next week.

While the Red Sox now have some clarity regarding Hanrahan’s status, the reliever’s future is very much unclear. The 31-year-old is slated to become a free agent after this season, so there’s a chance he may have thrown his last pitch in Boston.

“Hopefully I’ll get another chance here maybe and I want to try to show the fans here what kind of pitcher I really am,” Hanrahan said Saturday. “This year has kind of been a wash. Now it’s definitely a wash. We’ll see where it takes me from there.”

8 a.m. ET: How do you follow up that performance?

Jon Lester twirled an absolute gem on Friday to open up the Red Sox’ weekend series against the Blue Jays. He went the distance and gave up just one hit — a sixth-inning double by Maicer Izturis — while blanking the Jays in a 5-0 victory. It helped the Sox stop a three-game skid, and it could help the club get back on track after losing six of seven.

Clay Buchholz will take the mound for Boston on Saturday. The last time he faced the Blue Jays, it was up in Toronto and he was accused of doctoring the baseball. He shut down the Jays in that game, though, and he’ll look to do the same while going up against Mark Buehrle.

Saturday’s first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. Be sure to keep it right here with NESN.com for all of the matinee fun.

Final, Red Sox 5-0:

Lester closed the book on a one-hit gem by retiring the Blue Jays in order in the ninth. The lefty struck out five in the complete-game shutout, and Toronto’s only baserunner came when Maicer Izturis doubled down the left-field line with two outs in the sixth inning.

It was a dominant effort throughout for Lester, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The Red Sox entered the game having lost six of their last seven games. Now, they’ll try to use the dazzling performance as a springboard toward better things.

Making Lester’s performance even more impressive is that he pitched with a one-run lead for much of the game. The Red Sox eventually put up four more runs in the seventh inning, but the lefty didn’t have much margin for error.

Shane Victorino (two hits and two walks) reached base four times, and Dustin Pedroia (two hits and a walk) reached safely three times. Will Middlebrooks and Jarrod Saltalamacchia each banged out two hits, and Daniel Nava provided a two-run double.

The Red Sox will look to start building a winning streak against the Blue Jays on Saturday. Clay Buchholz will take the ball, and the first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.

Good night, everyone.

End 8th, Red Sox 5-0: The Red Sox went down without a peep in the eighth inning, but it might not matter. Jon Lester is coming back out to finish what he started, and he’s been lights-out thus far.

Stephen Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorino went down in order in the eighth.

Mid 8th, Red Sox 5-0: There was apparently no need to worry about Jon Lester getting rusty while the Red Sox enjoyed a lengthy offensive sequence in the seventh inning.

Lester mowed down the Blue Jays in order on seven pitches. J.P. Arencibia flied out to left, Mark DeRosa grounded out to third and Brett Lawrie lined out to second.

End 7th, Red Sox 5-0: The Red Sox got to Brett Cecil to begin the seventh inning. They then finished off the four-run assault by doing damage against Mickey Storey.

Jacoby Ellsbury, Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia pounded three straight singles against Cecil to make the game 2-0.

All three singles came when Cecil tried to pull the string with a curveball, so clearly that’s a pitch that wasn’t quite working for him in this one. It’s a bit surprising considering the success Cecil has had against the Sox this season.

The final batter Cecil faced was David Ortiz, who struck out swinging. The Blue Jays then turned to Storey, who struck out Mike Napoli in impressive fashion. Storey got the Red Sox first baseman to chase a slider, and it looked as if Toronto might actually escape the inning with only minimal damage inflicted.

Storey imploded from there, though. Daniel Nava smashed a two-run double high off the wall in left-center field. Storey’s fastball caught way too much of the plate, and Nava made him pay.

Nava scored when Jarrod Saltalamacchia drilled a line drive over Jose Bautista’s head in right field. Storey got ahead of Saltalamacchia 0-2, but Salty laid off three straight pitches, including one in the dirt, before eventually getting a pitch he could drive.

Jon Lester, who has thrown 92 pitches, is coming on to pitch the eighth inning. He’ll now do so with the benefit of a five-run lead.

Mid 7th, Red Sox 1-0: After the Blue Jays picked up their first hit of the game in the sixth inning, it was back to business as usual for Jon Lester in the seventh.

Lester got both Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista to ground out to short. The lefty then ended the inning by getting Edwin Encarnacion to pop out to Dustin Pedroia at second.

Making Lester’s outing even more impressive thus far is that he’s cruising along with just a one-run lead. Boston really needs to muster up some more offense to ensure Lester’s fantastic start doesn’t end up going to waste if he stumbles at all.

End 6th, Red Sox 1-0: Will Middlebrooks is putting together a nice game. He went the other way to pick up a double in the sixth inning, and he’s now 2-for-3 with two doubles and the game’s lone RBI.

The Red Sox squandered his two-out two-bagger, though. Brett Cecil, who replaced Ramon Ortiz before the inning, got Stephen Drew to fly out to center field to end the inning.

Ortiz went five innings for Toronto. He gave up just the one run on four hits, but the veteran righty played with fire throughout the contest. He issued five walks while throwing 96 pitches, yet Boston’s inability to cash in let him off the hook repeatedly.

Mid 6th, Red Sox 1-0: And there goes the perfect game.

Jon Lester got two quick outs in the sixth inning, but Maicer Izturis lined a double down the left-field line to break up the left-hander’s bid for perfection.

Lester tried to get ahead of Izturis with a changeup, but the Blue Jays shortstop stayed back and pulled it into the corner.

The big thing, however, is that Lester wasn’t rattled by the hit. The Fenway Faithful gave him a standing ovation, and then the lefty struck out Adam Lind — who pinch-hit for Rajai Davis — to end the inning with the 1-0 lead still intact.

All too often, pitchers unravel after that first hit, but Lester ensured it didn’t happen in that particular situation.

End 5th, Red Sox 1-0: Jon Lester will again take the mound with just a one-run pad, as the Red Sox are still failing to capitalize with runners on.

Shane Victorino led off with a walk, meaning he’s now reached base three times. Dustin Pedroia then grounded to the left side. Maicer Izturis made a great diving play — yes, the Blue Jays enjoyed a nice defensive moment — but he was unable to throw out a hustling Victorino at second. That set up runners at first and second with no outs.

At that point, the Red Sox had the potential for a big inning. Two batters later, however, it was all over. David Ortiz grounded into a 4-6 force out, and Mike Napoli grounded into an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play with runners at the corners.

Boston has now stranded seven runners. The Red Sox are 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Mid 5th, Red Sox 1-0: Jon Lester isn’t reading this, so no, I’m not jinxing it.

Lester threw another 1-2-3 frame, and he’s now perfect through five innings at Fenway.

Lester got two quick outs in the fifth, retiring Edwin Encarnacion on a ground ball to third and J.P. Arencibia on a pop out to the hot corner.

After that, Mark DeRosa put up what may be Toronto’s best at-bat so far. Lester just missed with a couple of pitches, which set up a 3-2 count. DeRosa then fouled off a changeup to stay alive before grounding out to Will Middlebrooks on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.

Lester has only thrown 58 pitches, so he’s in great shape in that regard. He still only has a one-run cushion, though, which is crazy considering how different the two offenses have been in this game. The Blue Jays haven’t had any baserunners, while the Red Sox have had plenty. Boston just hasn’t capitalized on its chances.

End 4th, Red Sox 1-0: Will Middlebrooks hasn’t homered since April 26 — a stretch of 12 games. He nearly changed that in the fourth inning, but a big green wall stood in the way.

Middlebrooks smoked a line drive high off the Green Monster. The Red Sox third baseman was about three feet shy of his seventh dinger, but instead he had to settle for a double.

That was huge, as the Red Sox once again couldn’t do anything with the baserunner. Stephen Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury each flied out following Middlebrooks’ one-out double to end the threat.

Mid 4th, Red Sox 1-0: The Red Sox are struggling to cash in on their scoring chances, but it hasn’t hurt them yet because Jon Lester is cruising right along.

Lester enjoyed another perfect inning in the fourth. He retired Toronto’s top three hitters in the lineup — Rajai Davis, Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista — via a pair of ground outs and a fly out.

Cabrera was the man who flied out, and he gave it a ride. Daniel Nava backtracked and caught it right in front of the left-field wall.

Lester has only thrown 43 pitches through four innings, so he’s in a pretty good place right now.

End 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: The Red Sox have been plagued at times this season by leaving men on base. They’re off to a rough start in that department in this game.

The Red Sox have left five men on base, and they’re 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position through the first three innings. In the third, they left two runners on, including one that was 90 feet away from scoring.

Shane Victorino, who singled back in the first inning, walked to lead off the third. He moved up to second base when Ramon Ortiz fired an errant pickoff attempt to first with one out. With the open base, the Blue Jays decided to walk David Ortiz, who was ahead in the count 2-1.

Mike Napoli nearly grounded into an inning-ending double play, but he beat out the throw at first. It didn’t matter, though, as Daniel Nava flied out to center field to end the inning with runners at the corners.

Mid 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: Jon Lester now has three 1-2-3 innings to begin this ballgame.

In the third, it was Brett Lawrie, Colby Rasmus and Maicer Izturis who went down in order. Lester has now made his way through the Toronto order once without anyone reaching.

Lester picked up his second strikeout in the third inning. Colby Rasmus worked a full count, but Lester went to the cutter to put him away.

End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: The Red Sox’ defense has struggled lately, but poor defense has been a hallmark of the Blue Jays’ season.

Maicer Izturis’ error in the second inning took away a potential double play, and the miscue further proves that Toronto’s defense is something to keep an eye on in this series.

Daniel Nava worked a one-out walk to get the offense rolling. He advanced from first to third on a base hit into right-center by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Will Middlebrooks then hit a ground ball to short. Izturis ranged to his right and fielded it on the back hand. His attempt at getting a force out at second base was thrown in the dirt, though, and everyone was safe. Nava scored, Salty moved to second and Middlebrooks reached at first.

Edwin Encarnacion nearly made matters worse by bobbling a ground ball off the bat of Stephen Drew. He managed to recover in time to record an out at first, but the bobble eliminated a potential double play. Fortunately for the Jays,  Jacoby Ellsbury ended the inning and the threat by grounding out to second.

The Red Sox still came away with a run, though.

Click here to read about the Red Sox’ defense >>

Mid 2nd, 0-0: Jon Lester was sharp once again in the second inning. He retired the Blue Jays in order, and picked up his first strikeout in the process.

Edwin Encarnacion led off the inning with a ground ball to third base that Will Middlebrooks took care of for the first out. Middlebrooks seems to be over his rib cage soreness, but his defense has been subpar of late.

Lester then struck out Toronto’s powerful backstop, J.P. Arencibia. Lester set him up with fastballs before throwing a 1-2 changeup that simply fell off the table. Arencibia took a hack, but he came up empty.

Mark DeRosa, like Encarnacion, grounded out to third base to end the inning.

End 1st, 0-0: David Ortiz has gone from red hot to ice cold in a hurry.

Ortiz, who entered the game 0-for-10 over his last two contests after compiling a 27-game hit streak, grounded into an inning-ending double play in the first. Entering the game, Ortiz was hitting just .188 with a .235 on-base percentage in May after a scorching start to the year.

The Red Sox put two men on before the twin killing. After Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out, Shane Victorino pulled a single through the right side and Dustin Pedroia walked on four pitches.

Mid 1st, 0-0: The Red Sox — losers of six of their last seven games — need Jon Lester to be at the top of his game. So far, so good.

Lester cruised through the first inning on six pitches. He retired Rajai Davis, Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista in order.

Davis led off by flying out to right field. Lester then got Cabrera to ground out to third and Bautista to fly out to left.

7:10 p.m.: One pitch, one out. Jon Lester’s first pitch resulted in a fly out to right field, and we’re under way at Fenway.

6:55 p.m.: Just a heads up. (Although I’m sure you already know.) Both the Red Sox and Bruins are in action on Friday, and NESN has both games covered. The Bruins will air on NESN, while the Red Sox will air on NESNplus. To find your NESNplus channel, check out the listings at the link below.

Click here for Friday’s NESNplus listings >>

You can also follow our NESN.com Bruins live blog, if you so choose. Mike Cole will keep you up to speed on all the playoff happenings.

Click here for NESN.com’s Bruins live blog >>

6:45 p.m.: Not sure if everyone already saw this, but Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie had a little bit of a Twitter rant on Thursday. He later deleted the tweet, but the whole situation is actually quite funny. I chimed in on the issue, if you’re interested.

Click here to read about Lawrie’s Twitter rant >>

6:15 p.m.: I’ve got a few other tidbits to pass along before we get going.

Andrew Bailey had another symptom-free day on Friday, according to manager John Farrell. The plan is for the right-hander to throw from 105 feet on Saturday. He’ll then need to throw long toss before getting back to throwing off a mound. There’s still no date for his return, but progress is certainly being made.

Farrell also said that John Lackey is scheduled to start on Tuesday. Felix Doubront, who threw over 100 pitches in relief on Thursday, will start next Thursday. The Red Sox are still trying to figure out some things with Doubront — most notably, what happened to his velocity? — and he will not be available over the weekend.

5:10 p.m.: Joel Hanrahan visited Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on his throwing arm on Friday. The right-hander is dealing with an injury to his flexor muscle tendon, and he’ll be out at least two months after being transferred to the 60-day disabled list on Thursday.

There is a possibility that Hanrahan’s season is over, but manager John Farrell said that no decision has been made on what course the reliever will take. Hanrahan could decide to go a conservative route, which would involve rest and rehab, in an effort to pitch again this season, or he could decide that season-ending surgery is the best option. We should know more in the coming days.

One thing Farrell did say, though, is that Hanrahan had a similar issue in 2009, although he’s unsure if the current injury is the result of the 31-year-old’s cumulative innings. Farrell said the ’09 injury wasn’t an issue brought up before acquiring Hanrahan because it didn’t flare up in the subsequent years.

5:05 p.m.: The Red Sox will roll out a pretty standard lineup in the series opener. Jarrod Saltalamacchia will get the start behind the plate with Jon Lester on the hill.

Red Sox (21-14)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Daniel Nava, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Stephen Drew, SS

Jon Lester, LHP (4-0, 3.30 ERA)

Blue Jays (13-23)
Rajai Davis, DH
Melky Cabrera, LF
Jose Bautista, RF
Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
J.P. Arencibia, C
Mark DeRosa, 2B
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Colby Rasmus, CF
Maicer Izturis, SS

Ramon Ortiz, RHP (0-0, 5.40 ERA)

8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox are suddenly a tough team to put a finger on.

One week ago, they were considered to be one of baseball’s best clubs. Now, they’ve lost six of their last seven games, and there are serious questions in multiple areas. Boston’s bullpen is a bit banged up, the defense has been awful and the offense has been inconsistent.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, they’re welcoming the last-place Blue Jays into town for a three-game weekend set. The Jays hold a 13-23 record, and they’ve been a train wreck this season. It could be a good opportunity for the Red Sox to get back on the winning path, especially since they’ve already taken four of six from Toronto this season.

Friday’s action will kick off at 7:10 p.m. Jon Lester will toe the rubber for the Sox.

Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie owns a .179 batting average and enters Friday’s game in the midst of a 2-for-25 slump. Needless to say, he’s an easy target for all baseball fans — especially those with a computer — either amused by or disgruntled about the Blue Jays’ atrocious start to the season. The Toronto third baseman doesn’t care for the Internet criticism, though, and he decided to fire back in the most jabroni way possible.

“All u people who chirp when things don’t go good have never done anything in pro sport .. Ever .. So shut ur mouths #LetsGetThisThingg #jays,” Lawrie tweeted on Thursday.

Oh, the “I’m an athlete, and you’re stupid” card. Nicely played, Brett. Only it isn’t.

We’ve seen plenty of athletes use a similar defense mechanism in the past, and we’ll undoubtedly see it again as long as the Internet doesn’t vanish into some sort of abyss. That doesn’t make it any less lame, though, especially when said athlete fumbles all over himself from that point on.

“I expect that,” Lawrie said of the online criticism, according to the Toronto Star. “I expect a lot out of myself, but at the same time I’m not going to sit there and take all that from people that I don’t know. So if I want to say something back, I have more than the right to. Freedom of speech. People want to come at me with something then I’m not scared to say something back.”

Lawrie is absolutely right. He can say whatever he wants. That’s the luxury of free speech, and as a result, the Internet is essentially a giant free-for-all — Twitter, especially. But going off that, “I’ll say whatever the hell I want” mantra, why then should Lawrie insist his critics shut their mouths? That’s hypocritical, no?”

The hypocrisy isn’t even the worst — or best, if you’re like me and enjoy watching people say dumb things — part of Lawrie’s 140-character temper tantrum. The real genius move was him trying to delete the tweet. This is 2013 and once something’s out there, it’s out there. Why not stand by what you say (or tweet)? At least handle the backlash, especially if you’re later going to puff out your chest, toss around freedom of speech like you’re a founding father and proclaim, “I’m not scared to say something back.” It’s like the kid who causes a fight, stands in the corner and then talks after the fight about how he was ready to drop someone.

In Lawrie’s defense, he is spot-on about one thing. Even despite his struggles, his athletic ability is far superior than the average human’s. That gift enables him to play a professional sport for a living, which believe it or not, also puts Lawrie in the public spotlight. Sure, plenty of people tend to get a little too worked up — again, one man’s opinion — about players or teams who don’t play well, but the Internet trolls are something athletes and celebrities must deal with. The critics could direct their frustration toward Billy Green the city worker, but Twitter upheaval doesn’t exactly come with that profession’s territory.

The simple solution for Lawrie if he doesn’t want to put up with people’s Twitter criticism is to delete his account. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, though. Baseball analyst and former big league catcher Gregg Zaun suggested such, and Lawrie tweeted, “@greggzaun I should get off twitter? .. I’ll do wat I want actually .. #TakeCareNow.”

Well, if Lawrie plans to do what he wants, we should probably all do the same — athletic ability notwithstanding.

Have a question for Ricky Doyle? Send it to him via Twitter at @TheRickyDoyle or send it here. 

For the third time this season, Lester takes the mound against the underachieving Blue Jays. Lester allowed five earned runs over 13 innings in his first two outings against Toronto, and held a shutout through seven innings in the first matchup.

Lester, who is 4-0 overall with a 3.30 ERA, will have the usual members of the Red Sox lineup around him at Fenway Park. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is back behind the dish after David Ross caught John Lackey in Thursday’s loss to the Twins, and Will Middlebrooks makes his second straight start since his collision with Ross earlier this week.

Rajai Davis leads off as the designated hitter for the Blue Jays, who are looking far and wide for pitching help. Their latest stopgap solution is 39-year-old Ramon Ortiz. The once-promising righthander, who was known as “Baby Pedro” for his physical similarities to Pedro Martinez, has not panned out the way scouts hoped. He has spent most of the season in Triple-A and is now making a spot start because of Brandon Morrow‘s back spasms.

Check out the full starting lineups below.

Toronto Blue Jays (13-23)
Rajai Davis, DH
Melky Cabrera, LF
Jose Bautista, RF
Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
J.P. Arencibia, C
Mark DeRosa, 2B
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Colby Rasmus, CF
Maicer Izturis, SS

Ramon Ortiz, RHP

Boston Red Sox (21-14)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Daniel Nava, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Stephen Drew, SS

Jon Lester, RHP

Gibbons was the third-winningest manager in team history but never led Toronto to the playoffs. Anthopoulos said he wanted a manager familiar with the organization and city. Even Gibbons was surprised. When he flew to Toronto to meet with Anthopoulos last November, he thought it was for a bench coach or a scouting job.

The Blue Jays have been a disaster so far this season, although it’s not Gibbons’ fault that Jose Reyes got injured and reigning NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey has regressed. It’s a rarity when an MLB season goes by in which a manager isn’t fired, and Gibbons would have to be on any short list of the favorites, along with the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Scioscia and Dodgers’ Don Mattingly.

Toronto is playing a little better of late but sits at the bottom of the AL East despite a huge increase in payroll and talent. The Jays visit Fenway for the first time this season for three games starting Friday, and Boston will be a sizable series betting favorite.

The Sox are 4-2 against the Blue Jays this season, although it must be noted that Toronto only had Reyes and star Jose Bautista for three games each. Reyes had eight hits in 12 at-bats against Boston pitching. Outfielder Colby Rasmus and catcher J.P. Arencibia have killed the Sox this year. Rasmus is hitting .389 with a homer and four RBIs in 18 at-bats and Arencibia is batting .304 with a homer and three RBIs in 23 at-bats. On the flip side, Melky Cabrera is batting just .130 against the Sox and Edwin Encarnacion .120, although he has homered twice.

The Jays are scheduled to start right-hander Brandon Morrow (1-2, 4.69) in Friday’s opener. He faced the Sox on April 30 in a 9-7 Blue Jays win, allowing three runs and six hits (two homers) in five innings. David Ortiz homered off Morrow in that game and is batting .412 in his career off him with three homers and five RBIs. Jacoby Ellsbury is batting .474 with three homers and eight RBIs.

Lefty Mark Buehrle (1-2, 7.02) is scheduled to start Saturday. He’s also been a huge disappointment after arriving in the big Marlins trade. Buehrle faced Boston on May 1, a 10-1 Sox win, and allowed five runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. Stephen Drew, Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava homered off Buehrle. Ortiz also loves facing Buehrle, hitting .359 with three homers and 13 RBIs off him. The former White Sox ace is 3-3 with a 5.60 ERA in his career at Fenway.

Sunday’s Toronto starter will be named later this week. It was lefty J.A. Happ‘s turn in the rotation, but he was scarily hit in the head by a line drive against Tampa Bay on Tuesday and hospitalized overnight. Happ was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

The Sox were 2-7 at home against Toronto in 2012, being swept twice.

This post is presented by Bovada

Happ, of course, was hit in the head with a line drive off the bat of Tampa Bay’s Desmond Jennings, sending the Blue Jays lefty to the hospital on a stretcher. McCarthy suffered a skull fracture and brain hemorrhaging as a result of similar circumstances while pitching for Oakland last season. Though early signs indicate that Happ’s injuries were not as major, many around the game say that it is finally time to require pitchers to wear protective headgear while on the mound.

McCarthy hopes that such headgear will be introduced some day, but he expressed via Twitter on Wednesday — as he did when MLB was considering implementing padded hats this past offseason — that no suitable technology currently exists.

See what he had to say in the tweets below.

Anybody taking the hard line stance today that pitchers should be wearing helmets, need to get out their tool kits and make a good one.

—
Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) May 08, 2013

Otherwise, you're accomplishing less than nothing. This goes for news organizations especially.

—
Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) May 08, 2013

There is nothing acceptable out there so the discussion at this point is worthless.

—
Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) May 08, 2013

There is no discussion to be had. It's simple. Want money? Invent something that protects pitchers heads at all levels, make a ton of it.

—
Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) May 08, 2013

The Blue Jays sent out a series of tweets early Wednesday saying that Happ had suffered a head contusion and lacerations to his left ear when he took a line drive off the bat of the Rays’ Desmond Jennings. Despite being removed from the field on a stretcher, Happ is expected to be released from the hospital later on Wednesday.

MEDICAL UPDATE: JA HAPP left last night’s game after hit on left side of head by a batted ball and was taken to hospital for testing.

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Blue Jays-Official (@BlueJays) May 08, 2013

He was responsive and doing well after suffering a head contusion and a laceration to his left ear.

—
Blue Jays-Official (@BlueJays) May 08, 2013

We anticipate that he will be discharged today after testing and will provide an update later on with further information.

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Blue Jays-Official (@BlueJays) May 08, 2013

According to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, Happ arrived at Bayfront Medical Center in fair condition, and was upgraded to “good” around 6 a.m. Happ also released a statement through the hospital, expressing his appreciation for the support of the baseball community.

“I’m in good spirits, I definitely appreciate the support of the baseball community,” said Happ. “It’s been overwhelming the messages and kind words I’ve been getting. I just want to thank everyone for that, and I look forward to getting back out there soon.”

Toronto starter J.A. Happ was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Desmond Jennings in the bottom of the second inning. The ball appeared to ricochet off the side of Happ’s head and into right field. Jennings ended up on third base as a result of the play, with Jose Molina and Yunel Escobar scoring.

Happ, visibly bleeding after the play, was loaded onto a stretcher, immobilized and taken away by paramedics, but he appeared to be conscious as he left the field and waved to fans on his way out.

Teammates and friends also quickly took to Twitter to express their well-wishes for the left-hander, with Blue Jays pitcher Kyle Drabek and Phillies outfielder Ben Revere chiming in.

Praying and hoping everything will be ok with Happ

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kyle drabek (@kyledrabek4) May 08, 2013

Pray for JA Happ!

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Ben Revere (@BenRevere9) May 08, 2013

Final, Maple Leafs 4-2: The Maple Leafs took big strides in this one, and in winning their first playoff game since 2004, they have tied up the series as it shifts back to Toronto.

Third period, 16:57, Maple Leafs 4-2: The Maple Leafs look like they’ll be heading home tied in the series.

James van Riemsdyk continues to be a thorn in the side of the Bruins, and he has them up by two goals again. The UNH product just scored a nifty little goal after a nifty little play and pass from Mikhail Grabovski and Toronto leads by two.

Third period, 14:29, Maple Leafs 3-2: The Bruins aren’t done, and they have gotten a huge jump from the Johnny Boychuk.

The B’s are peppering James Reimer here in the third period, and he’s trying to help them tie the game apparently. The Toronto goalie has been bad at controlling his rebounds since the goal, ad if the Bruins get to the net, they’re going to have chances (and second chances).

Third period, 10:35, Maple Leafs 3-2: It’s not over yet.

Johnny Boychuk scored a goal from the right point, on a shot that looked to be tipped, but the defenseman is getting credit for the goal for now at least.

Either way, the B’s are right back in this game.

Third period, 10:01, Maple Leafs 3-1: The Bruins were able to kill off the penalty, but they may have missed an opportunity to get back in the game.

Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell were able to get a 2-on-1 toward the end of the kill, but Paille got a little too cute with the puck and when he attempted to pass the puck across the slot, the play was broken up.

Third period, 6:21, Maple Leafs 3-1: The Maple Leafs are getting another power play, and the Bruins will once again be without a valuable penalty killer.

Zdeno Chara is now in the penalty box, where he’ll serve two minutes for interference after knocking down Nazem Kadri in the Boston end. Not a good penalty at all.

Third period, 0:53, Maple Leafs 3-1: Phil Kessel just silenced the Garden crowd — those not wearing Maple Leafs jerseys at least.

Kessel burst out of the Toronto zone like a rocket lifting off and he was hit with a gorgeous pass through the neutral zone from Nazem Kadri. Kessel burst into the zone and made a nifty move to beat Tuukka Rask.

Third period, 0:01, Maple Leafs 2-1: The third period is underway.

Second period reaction: The Maple Leafs have been very impressive through two periods, which is something we kind of expected despite their lack of playoff experience. They’ve been there every step of the way through two periods, and even after the Bruins got the game’s first goal early in the second period, the Maple Leafs did not go away.

Joffrey Lupul continues to hurt the Bruins, and he did so in a big way in the second period. Lupul scored both Toronto goals, and he did a good job of just putting himself in the right place to make plays. Give him credit as well for being able to finish his chances, and he’s one of the big reasons the Leafs are up 2-1.

It also doesn’t hurt that the Bruins aren’t nearly as sharp as they were in Game 1. The B’s were particularly sloppy in the second period, and the Leafs took advantage. It could have been even worse for Boston, really, but Tuukka Rask made a handful of big saves to keep this game close. If they’re able to tie it up and eventually take the lead, we’ll point to Rask’s play as a major reason why.

One goal is not going to win many hockey games, and it obviously won’t win this one. The Bruins need to follow Horton’s lead and get to the net to create traffic and second-chance opportunities. They’re also going to need something — anything — out of the third line. Jaromir Jagr has been somewhat invisible through two games, and that’s not good. The third line has been an issue all season long, and it looks like that’s carrying over.

End second period, Maple Leafs 2-1: The second period horn sounds, and the Maple Leafs take a lead to the room for the first time in this series.

Second period, 18:54, Maple Leafs 2-1: The Bruins just got themselves a great chance as well, but James Reimer was able to preserve the lead.

Daniel Paille beat out a potential icing, that led to a Zdeno Chara shot from the point. Gregory Campbell was there for the rebound chance, but Reimer made the save and then covered up.

Second period, 15:17, Maple Leafs 2-1: The Bruins are starting to get a little sloppy in their own end, but it hasn’t quite cost them yet. However, it almost did.

The Leafs just did everything but score in a mad scramble in front of the Boston net, with a shot that hit the post and then another that appeared to hit Tuukka Rask in the backside as the goalie was facing the net. Somehow, no goal is scored, though.

Second period, 11:56, Maple Leafs 2-1: The Maple Leafs now have themselves the lead.

Matt Frattin did a wonderful job of bringing the puck through the neutral zone and into Boston’s end before he flipped it across to Joffrey Lupul. From there, Lupul had a pretty easy goal as he lifted it over a sprawling Tuukka Rask to give Toronto the lead, its second of the series. They scored the first goal in Game 1 before Boston scored four unanswered goals.

Second period, 11:12, 1-1: The Maple Leafs came this close to taking their first lead since early in Game 1.

Nikolai Kulemin did a terrific job of stickhandling and carrying the puck into the Boston zone before getting a backhanded shot attempt toward Tuukka Rask. The Toronto forward beat Rask, but he also rang the iron, hitting the post and keeping the game tied.

Second period, 9:35, 1-1: Rich Peverley’s delay of game penalty comes to an end, with the Bruins killing it off to keep it at 1-1 here midway through the second period.

Second period, 7:23, 1-1: The Bruins will have to kill another penalty.

This time around, it’s Rich Peverley who gets the penalty for delay of game after flipping the puck over the glass.

Second period, 5:18, 1-1: The Maple Leafs took full advantage of the questionable penalty call.

Joffrey Lupul was able to knock down a Jake Gardiner shot with his stick, gather it and then flip it by Tuukka Rask for the goal. The goal came with just 2 seconds left on the Boston penalty.

Second period, 3:20, Bruins 1-0: We’ve seen a couple of suspect penalty calls, and the latest will go against the Bruins. This time it’s Zdeno Chara who was called for tripping, giving Toronto a power play.

Second period, 1:56, Bruins 1-0: Go to the net and good things happen. Case in point: Nathan Horton.

The forward went straight to the net as Milan Lucic carried the puck into the Toronto zone. Lucic put the puck on net, and Horton crashed the net. Horton then drove home the rebound for the goal.

Second period, 0:01, 0-0: The second period begins, and Patrice Bergeron is back on the ice for the Bruins.

First period reaction: That was a much, much better period for the Leafs, their best period of the first two games. Toronto, who was outshot badly in Game 1, actually outshot the Bruins 12-10 in the first period. They also outhit the Bruins 22-10, making the physical part of the game a priority apparently. It will be interesting to see if they can sustain that against a physical team like the Bruins, and you have to think the B’s don’t necessarily mind playing that way.

I went back and watched Patrice Bergeron’s final shift of the period before he went to the room. It’s tough to say what the injury might be. He got tangled up in the front of the Toronto net in what looked to be a pretty harmless tumble. No idea if that’s where whatever happened may have happened, though.

Hopefully for the Bruins’ sake, Bergeron is ready to go. His line was good in the first, thanks in large part to Tyler Seguin, who was the best Bruin on the ice in the first. Seguin leads the team with four shots already, and he’s played most of his 4:52 like he was shot out of a cannon. He’s doing it at both ends, too, with at least one very impressive display of back-checking that broke up a potential Leafs rush.

End first period, 0-0: The scoreless first period comes to a close, with Patrice Bergeron missing from the Bruins bench. He left toward the end of the period and hasn’t returned.

First period, 18:57, 0-0: And just like that, the power play is over.

Brad Marchand was just sent to the box for tripping, and that negates the Boston power play. That was an iffy call at best.

First period, 18:48, 0-0: Brad Marchand, the agitator, gets the Bruins a power play.

Marchand mixed it up with a couple of Leafs after the whistle, but when the dust settled, it was only Dion Phaneuf who got the penalty.

The Bruins get the first power play of the night.

First period, 14:08, 0-0: Phil Kessel and the Leafs have had a couple of odd-man rushes so far, but they haven’t done anything with those just yet.

The latest came on a 2-on-1 as Zdeno Chara struggled to slow the play in the Toronto end and into the neutral zone. Joffrey Lupul passed the puck to Kessel at the end of the break, but Kessel couldn’t jam it home as he had outskated the puck just enough to take away the chance to bury a one-timer over the sprawling Tuukka Rask. The goalie pinned the puck with his left leg pad.

First period, 10:32, 0-0: Give the Maple Leafs credit — they’ve certainly come out much more physical in Game 2, and they look comfortable as well. They may be in line for a lift after Colton Orr just walloped Zdeno Chara with a big check in the corner in the Boston end.

The Leafs had a scoring chance not long after, but Phil Kessel made an errant pass in a 2-on-1 with Tyler Bozak that neutralized the threat.

First period, 6:36, 0-0: This is definitely a pumped-up crowd in the house for a Saturday night playoff game, and they’ve been treated to a good one so far.

We’ve seen plenty of jump from both teams, but especially the Bruins, who tilted the ice pretty good in the first few minutes.

Boston just got its best chance of the game when Jake Gardiner — who is in the lineup after missing Game 1 — made a horrible turnover. He tried to bank it off the boards in the Toronto end, but it went straight to Gregory Campbell in the slot instead. Campbell put a shot on goal from the high slot that James Reimer stopped. The puck started to trickle by Reimer, but he was able to cover it up to keep things scoreless.

First period, 0:01, 0-0: The game is underway here at the Garden.

7:09 p.m.: Boston Marathon victim Jeff Bauman just brought the house down in his first public appearance since the tragic events of Marathon Monday. To say it was a powerful moment would be an absolute understatement.

6:38 p.m.: We’ve got some changes in both lineups.

For the Bruins, it looks like Dougie Hamilton will be in the lineup, as he took pregame line rushes alongside Wade Redden. Also, Matt Bartkowski isn’t here. So that’s a good indication that he won’t be playing in this one.

Rich Peverley, as expected, was in there with Chris Kelly and Jaromir Jagr. Here are the lines.

Milan Lucic — David Krejci — Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Tyler Seguin
Rich Peverley — Chris Kelly — Jaromir Jagr
Daniel Paille — Gregory Campbell — Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara — Adam McQuaid
Dennis Seidenberg — Johnny Boychuk
Wade Redden — Dougie Hamilton

Here are the Leafs lines, from pregame warmups at least.

James van Riemsdyk — Tyler Bozak — Phil Kessel
Nikolai Kulemin — Nazem Kadri — Joffrey Lupul
Leo Komarov — Mikhail Grabovski — Matt Frattin
Ryan Hamilton — Jay McClement — Colton Orr

Dion Phanuef — Carl Gunnarsson
Ryan O’Byrne — Jake Gardiner
Cody Franson — Mark Fraser

6:20 p.m.: Claude Julien, despite his team’s domination of Game 1, is not going to take anything for granted in this game. He’s unsurprisingly expecting the same effort out of his team, and he would even like to see them show a little bit of improvement. ‘

“You just have to look around the league and see what’s going on, a lot of series are tied 1-1,” he said after morning skate. “There’s nothing to get cocky about, or confident about, you just got to play every team the way you thought you would play that first one. We know they’re going to be a better team tonight, this is not a secret to anybody, but we have to be better ourselves.”

Warmups begin in about five minutes, which is when we’ll get a better idea of what the Bruins (and the Leafs) will be doing in terms of lineups.

5:50 p.m.: Good evening and welcome to a quiet TD Garden, that will be anything but in about an hour or so.

It will be especially emotional just before puck drop when the honorary captain is announced to the Garden crowd. After designating a local bomb squad as the honorary captain in Game 1, the Bruins will honor Boston Marathon bombing victim Jeff Bauman prior to this game. Bauman, who suffered severe injuries, including the loss of both legs, will be in the house to wave the fan flag prior to the game. He’s also the guy who helped the FBI identify the two suspects.

That is going to be one incredible moment.

3:15 p.m.: We won’t know for sure what Claude Julien’s lineup will be for Game 2, but we got a pretty good indication going off of morning skate. Also, nothing changed from Friday’s practice. So you add it all up, and it sure looks like Dougie Hamilton will be in for the suspended Andrew Ference and Rich Peverley will be in on the third line in place of Kaspars Daugavins.

Julien did say that Matt Bartkowski is an option for the extra D-man spot, but that seems a little difficult to believe. Bartkowski was assigned to Providence last week, and he’s currently with the P-Bruins in their playoff series in Hershey.

On the other side of things, the Maple Leafs — who practiced Thursday and Friday — had a limited morning skate. Only a handful of players took the optional skate, which means we have no indication of what they will do with their lines Saturday night. Head coach Randy Carlyle was unwilling to divulge any of that information when he met with the media following the skate.

8 a.m. ET: All went according to plan in Game 1 for the Bruins, and now it’s on them to prove that it wasn’t just a one-time thing. While in-game consistency problems were solved for at least one game, the B’s will attempt to prove they can find sustained consistency Saturday night in Boston.

The Bruins and Maple Leafs will tangle in Game 2 of their best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff first-round series Saturday night at TD Garden. The B’s are looking to take a 2-0 series lead after dismantling Toronto 4-1 in Game 1 on Wednesday night in Boston. There was a pretty noticeable discrepancy between the two teams in the first game, and the Leafs will try to bridge that in Game 2, but it won’t be easy. They looked overmatched and outclassed in the first meeting,

The Boston lineup will look a little different for Game 2, though. Most notably, Andrew Ference is out after being suspended one game for a hit on Mikhail Grabovski in the first period Wednesday. At Bruins practice Friday, it looked like Dougie Hamilton would be the man taking Ference’s place in the lineup, a move that would force the club to split up the valuable D-pairing of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg. There may also be changes up front. Rich Peverley was back skating with the third line alongside Jaromir Jagr and Chris Kelly at practice Friday, so that would indicate Pevrley will return after being scratched in Game 1.

Toronto coach Randy Carlyle has already said that he’ll make some changes in the lineup for Game 2, likely both up front and on the blue line. He won’t have a choice but to do something with his defense corps, though, as Mike Kostka suffered a broken finger in Game 1 and is out. That could be one of a few changes made by the head coach in an attempt to spark the club after a pretty ugly showing Wednesday night.

Puck drop for Game 2 is slated for 7 p.m.

With the Jays in last place of the American League East, nothing has coming easy for Boston’s division rival, so it should come as little surprise that Toronto is now trying to make life difficult for the Red Sox and their ace pitcher, Clay Buchholz.

Despite allegations that Buchholz was doctoring the baseball, however, the Red Sox have soldiered on, leading the AL East and standing tall as one of the season’s biggest surprises so far.

NESN.com’s Ricky Doyle stopped by the podcast to discuss those surprises with NESN Nation’s Dan Duquette. The two also hashed out the Buchholz-Dirk Hayhurst shenanigans, talked about why the Angels are struggling and much more.

Listen in the player below, or subscribe on iTunes to download it there.

Dirk Hayhurst

Hayhurst, a former pitcher who now works for Rogers SportsNet in Toronto, insisted, “I’m not wrong,” during a radio appearance Friday. He still seems to think that Buchholz used a foreign substance on his forearm in order to gain an edge during Wednesday’s start against the Blue Jays.

“Look, I saw Clay Buchholz going to his forearm, where there was not skin-colored something there, taking two fingers, wiping it across, massaging said cream or Stickum or slickum or whatever the popular buzzword of today is, and then using it to grip the baseball,” Hayhurst said on SportsNet 590 The Fan. “That’s illegal. You can’t do that.”

Hayhurst’s accusations, which were later backed up by fellow Toronto broadcaster Jack Morris, drew the ire of those in Boston. Red Sox manager John Farrell called Hayhurst’s claims “unfounded,” while Buchholz himself denied any wrongdoing.

“All of these things are technical rule violations. Is he cheating? Yeah. Is most of baseball cheating? Yes. Is my observation unfounded? No,” Hayhurst said.

Hayhurst’s claims have also been met with some anger by Red Sox fans. Since the Blue Jays are off to an awful start, some are considering the whole incident to be a case of sour grapes.

“The irony of this is that the lowest common denominators of the world out there will immediately latch on to the record and say all of your criticisms are discounted by the fact that your team sucks,” Hayhurst said, adding, “Fact: [The Jays] suck. And Clay Buchholz still cheated.”

Perhaps the biggest opponent of the accusations made against Buchholz was NESN’s own Dennis Eckersley, who took exception with the fact that someone is trying to smear what has been an incredible start to the season for the right-hander. Eckersley responded to Hayhurst and Morris both before and after Thursday’s game, even saying that Morris should “zip it.”

“I’ve got two eyes and a lot of experience around the game,” Hayhurst said. “I don’t have championships. But if you’re going to measure a person’s ability to tell the truth about the game of baseball by championships, then Jack Morris should really be telling Dennis Eckersley to zip it. … So, all I want to say is if you don’t know what I saw, please don’t just say because you didn’t play long enough anything you did saw is suddenly — this is only the court of baseball. I love the court of baseball, where there’s so much posturing.

“Dennis Eckersley, I hope you’re listening,” Hayhurst added. “I’m not taking anything away from Clay Buchholz. I’m giving him credit. Because it takes a lot of skill to cheat. It does. But you know what? If you’re going to do it blatantly, someone’s going to see you doing it. It’s not going to cost you against the Blue Jays, who are just God-awful right now. And I’m not calling out Clay Buchholz because I’m bitter and I’m angry that my beloved Jays are losing. I don’t care. It’s my job as an analyst to be impartial. I see him doing it, I’m going to mention it, that’s my job.”

Well, Hayhurst is at least right about one thing. The Blue Jays are God-awful.

Have a question for Ricky Doyle? Send it to him via Twitter at @TheRickyDoyle or send it here.

Click here to read Kevin Millar’s response >>

Click here to watch Dennis Eckersley voice his opinion >>

Click here to see Dennis Eckersley and Jerry Remy talk about the situation >>

Millar made his weekly appearance on WEEI’s Mut & Merloni on Friday, and one of the topics discussed was the recent allegations against Clay Buchholz. Toronto broadcasters Dirk Hayhurst and Jack Morris accused Buchholz of doctoring the baseball during his start against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, which prompted Dennis Eckersley to defend the Red Sox pitcher before and after Thursday’s game. Millar wasn’t shy about stating whose corner he’s in.

“Bottom line is that I am on Eck’s side,” Millar said. “I like Jack Morris, but the problem is we sit back here and are judging guys. You throw out a, ‘Is he cheating’ or something like that. That’s a tough thing to do unless you’ve got some facts. The bottom line is the rosin bag is there for a reason. Pitchers put it all over their hat. … It’s for the pitcher’s grip. When you’re out there with a full-on lather, they all have something. They all lick their fingers off the mound, they all do something, they go to their hair if there’s some gel in there, but it’s just for a grip. But I’ll tell you what, you can’t take away the credit that this kid’s doing right now. I’m on Eck’s side.”

Millar made it clear that everyone should focus on the job that Buchholz has done to begin the season, not some out-of-nowhere allegations. Buchholz ran his record to a perfect 6-0 record with Wednesday’s victory, and his ERA is a minuscule 1.01.

“There are guys that know how to use the baseball and pitch the baseball and throw at their spot, and what Buchholz is doing is awesome,” Millar said.

Millar also questioned the Blue Jays’ chemistry thus far, and that’s obviously something the former Red Sox first baseman knows plenty about.

Have a question for Ricky Doyle? Send it to him via Twitter at @TheRickyDoyle or send it here.

Click here to watch Eck’s response to Jack Morris >>

Click here to see Eck and Jerry Remy defend Buchholz >>

Photo via Flickr/Keith Allison

The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays on Thursday night, but the game seemed to be the last thing on people’s minds as the two teams played.

Instead, the drama unfolding seemed to focus on the supposed cheating being done by the Red Sox pitching staff, first Clay Buchholz and then Junichi Tazawa. That should continue to play out as the two divisional rivals battle for the rest of the year, but an important takeaway from this game comes on the scoreboard.

After all, that’s where Ryan Dempster came away a winner. For that, he’s our “Foreign National” player of the game. Who’s yours?

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Hayhurst, a former pitcher who now works for Rogers SportsNet, sent out a series of tweets in which he accused Buchholz of using a substance to manipulate the baseball during Wednesday’s start against the Blue Jays. Hayhurst claimed that the substance was located on Buchholz’s left forearm.

Buchholz denied any wrongdoing prior to Thursday’s game at the Rogers Centre. He told MassLive.com that the only substance located on his arm was rosin.

“There’s a rosin bag behind the mound and it’s there for everybody to use every inning after our warmup,” Buchholz reportedly said. “Put rosin on my arm throughout the game. Sweat, water, whatever. … Sometimes I put a little thing of water on my hip just to get moisture on your hands, because sometimes the balls that they throw to you feel like cue balls off a pool table. Got to find a way to get grip. But yeah, I mean, definitely no foreign objects or substances on my arm.”

Buchholz tossed seven shutout innings against the Jays on Wednesday. He gave up two hits and struck out eight in what was really just a continuation of the momentum he built up over his first five starts. Buchholz was named American League Pitcher of the Month for April on Thursday, and he’s a big reason the Red Sox are enjoying a ton of early-season success.

Buchholz wonders whether such accusations would have been made if he wasn’t on such a roll.

“That’s the way the world works,” Buchholz reportedly said. “If I had thrown two innings last night it probably would have been an issue. As far as the undershirts and the discoloration, I’ve been wearing the same shirts for the last three years. So go figure what’s all over these shirts, I don’t even know. Throw ‘em in the wash every night after I take ‘em off and that’s it.

“I’m throwing stuff in my hair too, right? No, that’s water. You can look at as much video as you want. After every inning, I go in there and pour a bottle of water on my head.”

No one on the Blue Jays appeared to complain on Wednesday, so perhaps this is an instance of one man’s sour grapes. Whatever the case, Hayhurst sure knows how to ruffle feathers.

Have a question for Ricky Doyle? Send it to him via Twitter at @TheRickyDoyle or send it here.

Click here to read Hayhurst’s allegations >>

Click here to read John Farrell’s response >>

Click here to see Dennis Eckersley and Jerry Remy respond >>

Final, Red Sox 3-1:

The decision to go with Hanrahan in the ninth inning comes as a surprise, as Andrew Bailey had become the team’s closer. We’ll see if there’s something physically wrong with Bailey, but either way, Hanrahan’s save was the 100th of his career.

Ryan Dempster went the first six innings for Boston. He gave up a leadoff home run to Brett Lawrie and also ran into a bases-loaded jam in the third inning, but the veteran showed plenty of poise, and he eventually settled down to help secure the win.

The Red Sox scored two runs in the second inning on an RBI single from Mike Carp and a sac fly from Stephen Drew. Jacoby Ellsbury extended the lead to 3-1 with an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Both teams failed to take advantage of scoring chances, but it was ultimately the Red Sox who did enough to secure the win. The Sox will now head to Texas for a three-game set after taking two of three from Toronto.

Good night, everyone.

Mid 9th, Red Sox 3-1: The Red Sox put two runners on with no outs, but a huge double play squashed their bid to add some insurance.

Jonny Gomes hit a little roller along the first-base line to begin the inning. The new pitcher, Esmil Rogers, came off the mound and made the play, but he was unable to deliver the difficult throw in time.

Dustin Pedroia then reached on a throwing error by third baseman Brett Lawrie. First baseman Adam Lind caught Lawrie’s high throw and tried to slap a tag on Pedroia as he ran by, but the umpire ruled that Pedroia beat it out.

At that point, the Red Sox looked poised to add a run or two, but Rogers started a 1-4-3 double play to settle things down.

Joel Hanrahan — not Andrew Bailey — is coming on to pitch the ninth for Boston.

10:14 p.m., Red Sox 3-1: Well, this is interesting.

The Red Sox hold just a two-run lead, meaning the ninth inning will be a save situation, yet Joel Hanrahan — not Andrew Bailey — is the one warming up in the Boston bullpen.

It’s unclear if there is something physically wrong with Bailey or if John Farrell is simply going back to Hanrahan as the closer, but this is definitely a rather wild development.

End 8th, Red Sox 3-1: The Red Sox will carry a 3-1 lead into the ninth inning.

Koji Uehara came on to pitch the eighth, and the Blue Jays put the tying run at the dish, but the energetic right-hander came through.

Jose Bautista popped out to lead off the inning, and Edwin Encarnacion then tried to spark a rally by ripping a ball to the left side. Will Middlebrooks went into a dive, but he was unable to make the play.

The hit didn’t matter much, though. Uehara bounced back to strike out both J.P. Arencibia and Melky Cabrera. Arencibia struck out on a sneaky quick fastball up and out of the zone, and Cabrera fanned on a splitter after looking at two straight fastballs.

Mid 8th, Red Sox 3-1: Brett Cecil took over in the eighth inning, and he took care of business.

Cecil started things off by striking out Mike Carp. Then, after issuing a walk to David Ross, he struck out Stephen Drew looking for the second out.

Cecil ended the inning by getting Jacoby Ellsbury to ground out in front of the mound.

End 7th, Red Sox 3-1: The Red Sox have missed out on plenty of scoring chances, but so have the Blue Jays.

Toronto had a golden opportunity in the seventh, but Junichi Tazawa ensured Boston will enter the eighth inning with a two-run lead still intact.

Tazawa entered the game for Miller — who put two runners aboard before exiting — and he walked Brett Lawrie to load the bases with two outs.

Tazawa got ahead of Adam Lind before firing two pitches in the dirt that David Ross did a nice job of blocking. Tazawa eventually went upstairs with a fastball to strike out Lind swinging.

9:49 p.m., Red Sox 3-1: Andrew Miller got into some trouble, forcing the Red Sox to make a pitching change.

Miller struck out Melky Cabrera but then gave up a single to Colby Rasmus. Rasmus moved up to second base on a wild pitch.

After Emilio Bonifacio grounded out to short, Munenori Kawasaki worked a walk to bring up the go-ahead run.

Junichi Tazawa is entering the game with the right-handed hitting Brett Lawrie — who homered to leadoff the game — at the dish.

Mid 7th, Red Sox 3-1: Steve Delabar was very impressive in the seventh inning. He picked up two strikeouts as part of a perfect frame.

Mike Napoli led off by striking out on four pitches. He looked at a 96-mph offering to cap off the K.

Daniel Nava then popped out before Will Middlebrooks struck out to end the inning. Middlebrooks probably could have been rung up looking on three pitches — as Delbar’s 0-2 pitch was very close — but he instead got the benefit of the doubt and went down swinging on pitch No. 4.

Andrew Miller is coming on for Boston, which means Ryan Dempster’s night is over. Dempster worked his way out of some trouble at times, but he was otherwise solid once again.

Dempster allowed one run on four hits, and the only run he allowed came on a leadoff home run by Brett Lawrie. Dempster struck out four and walked three. He tossed 100 pitches (60 strikes).

End 6th, Red Sox 3-1: Ryan Dempster enjoyed his second straight 1-2-3 inning in the sixth.

Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion were both retired on flyouts, and J.P. Arencibia struck out swinging.

Arencibia battled back from an 0-2 count to even things up at 2-2, but he fanned on a splitter to punch his ticket back to the dugout.

Mid 6th, Red Sox 3-1: The Red Sox have had plenty of chances to extend their lead. They finally capitalized in the sixth inning.

David Ross led off the inning with a walk. It was the eighth walk issued by Blue Jays pitching, although most came with starter J.A. Happ on the hill. Brad Lincoln nearly struck out Ross on a 3-2 pitch, but the Jays reliever didn’t get the call.

Ross moved up to second base as Stephen Drew struck out. Drew went down swinging on a curveball that got away from catcher J.P. Arencibia and traveled to the backstop. Drew took off for first base, but because Ross already occupied first, Drew — by rule — wasn’t able to reach.

At that point, the Jays made a pitching change. They brought in Steve Delabar, whose first opponent was Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury dropped a blooper into left field that Melky Cabrera fielded on one hop, and Ross managed to score from second base.

Jonny Gomes and Dustin Pedroia each grounded out to end the inning.

End 5th, Red Sox 2-1: Ryan Dempster doesn’t have any wiggle room, and to this point, he hasn’t needed any.

Dempster cruised through the fifth inning, and he’s now tossed four scoreless frames since giving up a first-inning home run to Brett Lawrie. It hasn’t always been easy, but Dempster was very effective in the fifth.

Munenori Kawasaki grounded out to begin the inning, and Dempster then struck out Lawrie and Adam Lind.

Lawrie was disposed of on three pitches, and he went down looking at a fastball. Lind went down hacking at a 2-2 slider.

Mid 5th, Red Sox 2-1: The Red Sox again had a good scoring chance, and again they couldn’t cash in.

Daniel Nava connected on a one-out double to right field, and he moved up to third base when Will Middlebrooks grounded out to first. Nava remained stranded at third, though, as Mike Carp struck out on a curveball in the dirt to end the inning.

The Red Sox are 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and they’ve left eight men on base. By not cashing in, they’re certainly not giving Ryan Dempster any wiggle room.

End 4th, Red Sox 2-1: Ryan Dempster scattered a hit in the fourth inning, but he didn’t issue any walks, so that’s certainly a step in the right direction.

J.P. Arencibia grounded out to lead things off, and Dempster then struck out Melky Cabrera swinging. Dempster went with all fastballs to begin the at-bat against Cabrera before eventually going with a slider on the sixth pitch to pick up the K.

Colby Rasmus singled with two outs, but Dempster bounced back to retire Emilio Bonifacio via a lazy flyout to left.

Mid 4th, Red Sox 2-1: Just minutes after Ryan Dempster was forced to escape a bases-loaded jam that he created by walking three batters, Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ issued four free passes of his own. That ended Happ’s night.

Mike Carp walked to begin the inning, but he was wiped off the basepaths when David Ross grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Munenori Kawasaki nearly brought first baseman Adam Lind off the bag with his throw, but Lind managed to make the play while keeping his foot on the base.

Stephen Drew worked a two-out walk, and things snowballed further from there. Happ walked Jacoby Ellsbury after getting ahead 0-2, and he then walked Jonny Gomes on four pitches.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons saw enough at that point. Happ walked seven batters in his 3 2/3 innings, so Gibbons took the ball and handed it to Brad Lincoln.

Lincoln got the Jays out of serious trouble by getting Dustin Pedroia to reach at a curveball. Pedey grounded into an inning-ending force out, and despite all of the walks, the Red Sox’ lead is still just one run.

Happ threw 95 pitches (47 strikes) before departing.

End 3rd, Red Sox 2-1: Red Sox pitching coach Juan Nieves made a mound visit at the perfect time.

Ryan Dempster pitched his way into a major jam in the third inning. He walked three hitters — Munenori Kawasaki, Adam Lind and Jose Bautista — to load the bases with one out.

Dempster missed quite a bit with a few pitches during that span, so Nieves came out to have a chat with the right-hander. It worked wonders.

Dempster fell behind Edwin Encarnacion with the bags packed, but he showed plenty of poise and threw a 2-0 slider. Encarnacion grounded it to Stephen Drew at short, which kicked off a massive, inning-ending double play.

(Small note to Blue Jays fans: Juan Nieves is not John Farrell. Therefore, you don’t have to boo every mound visit. Just a thought.)

Mid 3rd, Red Sox 2-1: The Red Sox put their third run of the game 90 feet away, but they were unable to capitalize on the scoring chance.

Jonny Gomes led off the inning with a double over the head of center fielder Colby Rasmus. Gomes advanced to third when Dustin Pedroia hit a fly ball to center that Rasmus was able to track down.

J.A. Happ then struck out Mike Napoli for the second out of the inning. It was some solid pitching from Happ, who went with back-to-back fastballs to begin the at-bat before pulling the string and freezing Napoli with a curveball.

Daniel Nava worked a two-out walk to put runners at the corners, but Will Middlebrooks grounded into a 6-4 forceout to end the threat.

End 2nd, Red Sox 2-1: J.P. Arencibia kicked off the bottom of the second inning with a single. He was the only one to reach.

Arencibia smacked a fastball into right field, but Melky Cabrera, Colby Rasmus and Emilio Bonifacio all flied out as Ryan Dempster kept the Jays off the scoreboard.

Mid 2nd, Red Sox 2-1: The Red Sox were held down in the first inning, but they weren’t to be denied in the second inning.

Boston put up two runs while making J.A. Happ labor through the frame. The Sox looked much more like the team that banged out 15 hits and scored 10 runs on Wednesday.

The inning started off in rather bizarre fashion. Mike Napoli smoked a line drive down to third base that Brett Lawrie made a weird attempt at fielding. Lawrie leaped into the air — even though he didn’t need to — and the ball sailed right by his face and into the left-field corner. Napoli ended up with a double.

After Daniel Nava struck out, Will Middlebrooks walked to set up first and second for Mike Carp. Carp did what he’s done all season — take advantage of his opportunity. Carp lined a 2-2 curveball into right field that brought Napoli in with Boston’s first run.

David Ross walked to load the bases, and Stephen Drew gave the Red Sox the lead on a sac fly to right field. The Red Sox certainly wanted to add more, but it’s hard to complain with coming away from the inning with a lead.

Happ’s pitch count is now up to 54 through two innings.

End 1st, Blue Jays 1-0: Ryan Dempster ranks second all-time among Canadian-born pitchers with 125 wins. He’ll need to settle down in order to pick up win No. 126.

Brett Lawrie led off the game with a home run to left center field. Lawrie, who missed time this season, has been having better at-bats of late. He now has a seven-game hitting streak after jumping all over Dempster’s 1-1 fastball.

After Adam Lind flied out to right, Jose Bautista ripped a ground ball to third base. Will Middlebrooks failed to get in front of the hot shot. Instead, he tried to backhand it, and it rolled past him into left field. Middlebrooks was charged with an error.

Fortunately for Dempster, he got Edwin Encarnacion to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Mid 1st, 0-0: It was a busy inning in the field for Jose Bautista. The right fielder recorded all three putouts as J.A. Happ retired the Red Sox in order.

Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a lengthy at-bat. He got into a hitter-friendly 3-1 count, and then fouled off three straight pitches to make Happ work. The Toronto left-hander finally got Ellsbury to sky the eighth pitch of the at-bat to right.

Jonny Gomes and Dustin Pedroia followed suit, and it was a very easy first inning for Happ, who tossed 5 1/3 scoreless frames against Boston earlier this season.

7:08 p.m.: J.A. Happ’s first pitch is a ball, and action is under way in Toronto.

7 p.m.: John Farrell addressed Dirk Hayhurst’s allegations against Clay Buchholz while speaking with the media before Thursday’s game. As you’d expect, the Red Sox skipper rushed to Buchholz’s defense. He called Hayhurst’s allegations “unfounded,” and he certainly didn’t seem happy about the whole situation.

Click here to read Farrell’s response >>

6:55 p.m.: The big news coming out of Toronto on Thursday surrounds the allegations of broadcaster Dirk Hayhurst.

Hayhurst, who is also a former big league pitcher (25 games between 2008 and 2009), thinks Clay Buchholz was doctoring the baseball on Wednesday night.

Buchholz is off to a fantastic start this season, and he became baseball’s first six-game-winner Wednesday after blanking the Blue Jays over seven innings. The right-hander has shown incredible command throughout his six starts this season, and his ability to keep hitters off-balance has him among the game’s elite starting pitchers. Clearly, Hayhurst thinks there’s also some funny business going on, though.

Hayhurst claims to have seen Buchholz use some sort of substance to alter the baseball. Hayhurst claims the substance was located on Buchholz’s left forearm.

Buchholz has denied any wrongdoing, saying that he only applied the rosin bag to his forearm.

Click here to read Hayhurst’s allegations >>

6 p.m.: Clay Buchholz could have gotten rocked on Wednesday — which he didn’t — and he still would have at least one honor to begin this season. Buchholz was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for April.

Buchholz went 5-0 with a 1.19 ERA in five April starts. He then proceeded to toss seven shutout innings on Wednesday in his first start of May, so perhaps some more hardware will soon follow.

Click here to read about Buchholz’s award >>

Click here to read about Buchholz’s fast start >>

Click here to read about Buchholz’s key stats >>

5:50 p.m.: You may have noticed that Shane Victorino is not in the Red Sox’ starting lineup, but there is good news regarding his status. According to John Farrell, Victorino is available, and the Flyin’ Hawaiian is expected to start Friday’s game in Texas.

5:45 p.m.: David Ortiz has been as hot as anyone on the Red Sox, but in order to keep him fresh, manager John Farrell is giving the slugger the night off.

With Ortiz out of the lineup, Farrell also decided to have Mike Napoli DH in the series finale. Napoli will move up and bat cleanup in Ortiz’s absence. Mike Carp will get the start at first base and bat seventh.

David Ross will catch Ryan Dempster. Thursday is Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s birthday, so perhaps the night off is a little gift from the skipper. Ross will bat eighth, while Stephen Drew will look to continue making strides out of the No. 9 hole.

The rest of Thursday’s lineups are below.

Red Sox (19-8)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Jonny Gomes, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Mike Napoli, DH
Daniel Nava, RF
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Mike Carp, 1B
David Ross, C
Stephen Drew, SS

Ryan Dempster, RHP (1-2, 3.30 ERA)

Blue Jays (10-18)
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Adam Lind, 1B
Jose Bautista, RF
Edwin Encarnacion, DH
J.P. Arencibia, C
Melky Cabrera, LF
Colby Rasmus, CF
Emilio Bonifacio, 2B
Munenori Kawasaki, SS

J.A. Happ, LHP (2-1, 3.86 ERA)

8 a.m. ET: Ryan Dempster picked up his first win in a Red Sox uniform in his last start on Sunday. He’ll try to make it two in a row on Thursday.

Dempster will take the bump for Boston, which finishes off its series in Toronto before traveling to Texas for the weekend. The Red Sox and Blue Jays have each taken a game in the series, so Thursday’s showdown will mark the rubber match between the AL East foes.

The Red Sox dropped the series opener on Tuesday, but they bounced back in impressive fashion on Wednesday night. Mike Napoli smacked two home runs, and Stephen Drew, Daniel Nava and Mike Carp each went deep once as Boston pounded out 15 hits and walked away with a 10-1 victory. Clay Buchholz picked up the win, improving his record to a perfect 6-0.

Dempster will go up against J.A. Happ on Wednesday. Happ — as you might remember — had his way with the Red Sox earlier this season. The left-hander went 5 1/3 shutout innings to help guide the Jays to a 5-0 victory over the Sox back on April 6. That, of course, was the game in which John Lackey suffered a biceps strain.

Wednesday marked a great day for Boston sports, as the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics all won. Only the Red Sox will be in action on Thursday, but they’ll try to keep the good times rolling.

Thursday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. Be sure to tune in on NESN, and follow along right here with NESN.com’s live blog. It’s the cool thing to do.

Sure, the Red Sox did well enough against J.A. Happ to leave him on the hook for a loss, but it could have been so much better.

Despite walking seven batters, Happ only allowed two runs to the Red Sox — which means Boston could be vulnerable to a Blue Jays comeback after failing to capitalize on the early chances they had.

NESN Nation’s Dan Duquette is a little worried about the Sox. See why in the above video.

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With Clay Buchholz accused of doctoring the baseball during his start in Toronto on Wednesday, there was no shortage of defenders coming to the Red Sox starter’s aid. Chief among them was manager John Farrell, who admitted that it bothered him “immensely” that someone watching on TV would try to stir up trouble for his ace.

“The fact is,” Farrell said before Thursday’s game, “the guy’s 6-0, he’s pitched his tail off and if people are going to point at cheating … unfounded.”

NESN analysts Jerry Remy and Dennis Eckersley agreed, quickly dismissing the claims made by former MLB pitcher and current Blue Jays broadcaster Dirk Hayhurst.

“I have faced guys that have thrown spitballs before and you know it right away,” Remy explained. “There was none of that going on here [Wednesday] night.”

Eckersley concurred, going so far as to call into question why Hayhurst’s criticism carries any weight.

“First of all, why are we giving this guy any play who said this, these accusations, to me is tired to begin with. He’s a lifetime minor league pitcher that’s watching the video and I don’t know what he saw,” Eckersley said. “To me, it’s a joke. [Buchholz is] so nasty, to take anything away from the way the guy is throwing the ball right now is absolutely ridiculous.

“To take that away from this kid right now is a crime because this is as good as I’ve seen anybody start a season off and he doesn’t need to cheat.”

Check out what else Eckersley and Remy had to say in the above video.