The Red Sox will cross the border for a three-game set against the Blue Jays before heading south to Texas to take on the Rangers.
Needless to say, it’s going to be a difficult road trip to survive.
Although Boston is 7-2 against Toronto this season, the Blue Jays are 15-7 since the All-Star break and 8-3 in August, including two wins over the Yankees and a sweep of the Rays this past weekend at the Rogers Centre.
The AL West’s first-place Rangers are 4-3 against the Red Sox this summer and have recently endured a road trip of their own, going 4-5 against the Angels, Mariners and A’s.
This week’s four Top Dawg contenders are Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew and Ryan Kalish.
Ellsbury will have a full week under his belt by Game 2 in Toronto, and it’s only a matter of time before the leadoff hitter catches fire. He’s scored over 40 runs and stolen nearly 20 bases combined in his career against both the Blue Jays and Rangers.
In 71 career games against the Blue Jays, Lowell has a .322 average as well as 12 homers and 46 RBIs. He’s hitting .332 with five bombs and 13 RBIs in 19 career contests at the Ballpark in Arlington.
Drew limps into the week with unimpressive stats, but the right fielder has hit .281 in his career in the month of August, so there’s a good chance he’ll turn things around soon.
As for Kalish, the young spark plug isn’t letting any big league nerves get to him, as he’s hitting .360 in his first eight games. The 22-year-old got his first career homer out of the way in the Red Sox’ series opener against the Yankees on Friday night.
Last week’s Top Dawg, Adrian Beltre, also has a shot at another Top Dawg title this week. He’s hitting .364 with a 1.076 OPS, one homer and three RBIs in six games at the Rogers Centre.
href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/3594008/”>Who will be Top Dawg of the Week for Red Sox against Yankees, Blue Jays and Rangers?9px;”>href=”http://polldaddy.com/features-surveys/”>online surveys
Every Monday, NESN.com will release which Red Sox players are the Top Dawg contenders. The following Sunday, Jerry Remy will pick a Top Dawg of the Week.
But Jerry also wants to hear from you, Red Sox Nation, and find out who you think is the week’s Top Dawg for the Red Sox. Every Monday until Sunday, fans can vote for their Top Dawg of the Week. At the end of the week, we’ll see if Jerry’s Top Dawg matches up with Red Sox Nation’s Top Dawg.
