Final, Blue Jays 5-0: Toronto fends off the Red Sox' attempt at a sweep. Casey Janssen sends the Red Sox down in order to preserve the Blue Jays' 5-0 win. Jon Lester pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings for the Red Sox, but gave up three quick runs to the Jays to finish the seventh inning.
Bobby Valentine's decision to pinch-hit for Jose Iglesias in the seventh will be a hot post-game topic. Valentine replaced Iglesias in the middle of his at-bat, then watched pinch-hitter Daniel Nava ground out to end the inning. What do you think of Bobby V's decision? Watch NESN's postgame coverage and NESN Daily tonight for discussion.
End 8th, Blue Jays 5-0: Daniel Bard takes over for Jon Lester, then promptly gives up a ground-rule double to Brett Lawrie. Colby Rasmus hits a single to left, which takes a spinning bounce away from Red Sox left field Ryan Kalish. By the time Kalish recovers, Lawrie reaches home.
Andrew Bailey then relieves Bard, gets a groundout, and promptly leaves the game.
Scott Atchison then relieves Bailey and gives up a single to Moises Sierra, scoring Colby Rasmus. Atchison closes out the Blue Jays after that, but the Sox have a mountain to climb in the ninth.
Mid 8th, Blue Jays 3-0: Darren Oliver relieves Brandon Lyon for the Blue Jays. Dustin Pedroia legs out an infield single with one out. Jacoby Ellsbury hits another single and Pedroia advances to third. Cody Ross then hits into an inning-ending double play, ending the Sox' threat in the top of the eighth.
3:20 p.m.: Jon Lester comes off the field after giving up three runs to the Blue Jays, and he's displeased. A fan taunts Lester near the Red Sox' dugout, and Lester exchanges words with the fan.
End 7th, Blue Jays 3-0: Omar Vizquel singles in the first run of the game for the Blue Jays, scoring Rajai Davis. Adeiny Hechavarria then hits a home run just to the right of the left field foul pole, and the Blue Jays take a 3-0 lead over Jon Lester and the Red Sox.
Meanwhile, fans are still talking on social media about Bobby V's decision to pinch-hit for Jose Iglesias in the middle of his at-bat. What do you think? Send in your comment at the bottom of our live blog.
3:13 p.m.: What do you think of Bobby Valentine's decision to pinch-hit in the middle of an at-bat? Daniel Nava's day is done after pinch-hitting for Jose Iglesias mid-count. Mike Aviles is now at shortstop for the Sox.
Mid 7th, 0-0: Brett Cecil relieves Brandon Morrow, who threw six scoreless innings for the Blue Jays. Cecil strikes out Jarrod Saltalamacchia and is relieved by Brandon Lyon, who conveniently spells his first name exactly the same as Brandon Morrow, which makes spellchecking much easier. Lyon gets Yale's own Ryan Lavarnway to fly out to center, but then gives up a single to Pedro Ciriaco.
With Jose Iglesias batting with two outs, Ciriaco steals second base. Manager Bobby Valentine then replaces Iglesias, at bat with a 2-2 count, with Daniel Nava. Nava promptly grounds out, ending the inning for the Sox.
End 6th, 0-0: Jon Lester matches Brandon Morrow's top of the sixth with his own gem in the bottom of the sixth. Lester throws two strikeouts, giving him five on the day. The Blue Jays have only managed one hit off Lester through sixth innings.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia will attempt to break the game open against Morrow in the top of the seventh.
Mid 6th, 0-0: Brandon Morrow shuts down the heart of the Red Sox' lineup in the top of the sixth. Down go Ellsbury, Ross, and Loney. Just like that.
End 5th, 0-0: Weirdness abounds when the roof's opened in Toronto. Jon Lester picks up a bunt by Yan Gomes with time to start a double play. His throw to second goes offline and into right field, however, and the Blue Jays have two men on with no one out. Lester calms down Toronto, however with two successive Ks to contain the threat. Jose Iglesias then fields a bullet at shortshop and throws to second for the force-out. Jacoby Ellsbury is up next for the Sox in the sixth.
Mid 5th, 0-0: Brandon Morrow shuts down the Red Sox in order in the top of the fifth inning. Morrow attended the University of California at Berkeley, which everyone in the universe calls "Berkeley" or "Cal-Berkeley," except for the Berkeley athletic department, which refers to the Berkeley teams as "California." There are many, many people in California who would reject that label, especially in Palo Alto and Westwood. Anyway, on to the bottom of the fifth.
End 4th, 0-0: Jon Lester catches an Adam Lind liner headed right at him, then throws to first to shut the Blue Jays down in order. In other news, according to Don Orsillo's in-game report, Don Orsillo will eat a Reese's candy bar in between innings.
Mid 4th, 0-0: Cody Ross and Jarrod Saltalamacchia both single, giving the Red Sox men on first and second with one out. Yale's own Ryan Lavarnway, who went to Yale, flies out to Sierra in right field. Adam Lind then catches a foul pop-up by Pedro Ciriaco to shut the Sox down in the fourth. Colby Rasmus is up first for the Jays in the bottom of the fourth.
End 3rd, 0-0: Omar Vizquel doubles to left and reaches third base, but Jon Lester induces Brett Lawrie into a foul pop-out to first. Cody Ross is up first for the Sox in the fourth inning.
Mid 3rd, 0-0: The Sox go down in order, as Moises Sierra comes to terms with the sunlight and catches Jacoby Ellsbury's shot to end the inning.
Jerry Remy eagerly announces the upcoming bridal festival promotion, so let's replicate it here for engaged couples everywhere. Would you like to get married at Fenway Park? Visit http://redsox.com/bridal for more details.
End 2nd, 0-0: Jon Lester sets down the Jays in order for the second straight inning. On to the third, where Scott Podsednik will bat first for the Sox.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Yale alumnus Ryan Lavarnway, who attended Yale and graduated from Yale with a Yale degree from Yale, receives a gift from Blue Jays right fielder Moises Sierra. The rarity of sunlight in Toronto confused Sierra and caused him to lose track of a lazy fly ball, missing the catch by about three meters. Lavarnway reached second on the play. Pedro Ciriaco and Jose Iglesias both go down quickly, however, stranding Lavarnway at second base.
End 1st, 0-0: The Blue Jays issued three lineup changes before the game. Maybe they should have issued another one. Jon Lester sets down the Jays in order. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is up first in the top of the second.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Dustin Pedroia, drawing inspiration from Don and Jerry's chat about copyright law, hits a single to left. Toronto pitcher Brandon Morrow then walks Jacoby Ellsbury, but recovers and strikes out Cody Ross. James Loney then bloops to left-center to end the inning for the Sox.
The copyright discussion concerned the "express written consent" portion of NESN's on-air copyright statement. In life, always get it in writing.
1:07 p.m.: First pitch! It's blue skies and blue jerseys in Toronto.
12:56 p.m.: Red Sox fandom is a lifelong passion, as evidenced by a fan featured on the Red Sox's Twitter feed. The Sox' intrepid fan is 90 years old (young?), and celebrated by visiting the Sox today at Rogers Centre.
12:40 p.m.: NESN's Jenny Dell reports that the Blue Jays have changed their lineup after catcher Jeff Mathis experienced "flu-like symptoms." J.P. Arencibia replaces Mathis at catcher, while Yan Gomes takes Arencibia's spot at designated hitter. The Jays' new lineup is as follows:
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Colby Rasmus, CF
J.P. Arencibia, C
Adam Lind, 1B
Moises Sierra, RF
Yan Gomes, DH
Omar Vizquel, 2B
Adeiny Hechavarria, SS
Anthony Gose, LF
10 a.m.: Lineups!
Red Sox
Scott Podsednik, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Cody Ross, RF
James Loney, 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, DH
Ryan Lavarnway, C
Pedro Ciriaco, 3B
Jose Iglesias, SS
Jon Lester, P
Blue Jays
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Colby Rasmus, CF
J.P. Arencibia, DH
Adam Lind, 1B
Moises Sierra, RF
Jeff Mathis, C
Omar Vizquel, 2B
Adeiny Hechavarria, SS
Anthony Gose, LF
Brandon Morrow, P
8 a.m. ET: It's been a long time since the Boston Red Sox (66-80) came away from a series with a sweep, but they're poised to break that trend after taking the first two contests of a three-game weekend set against the Toronto Blue Jays (65-79). If they can get the sweep, the Sox will pull into a tie with the Jays to leave the American League East cellar.
Just how long has it been since the Red Sox broke out the brooms? The last time was during a June 19-21 series at Fenway, when the Sox welcomed Ozzie Guillen's lowly Miami Marlins. To find the last time Boston completed a sweep on the road, go back even further — April 23-25 against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.
To help sweep aside the Jays, the Sox turn to left-hander Jon Lester, who's had an up-and-down season, to say the least. The last time Lester took the mound in Rogers Centre was the clear low point of the 28-year-old's season, and quite possibly his career. In that July 22 outing, the southpaw yielded 11 earned runs — including four home runs and five walks — and was more or less hung out to dry on a day the bullpen badly needed a rest. Lester has rebounded since, but despite going 4-1 with a 3.66 ERA over his past six starts, he issued a career-high seven free passes Tuesday against the Yankees, so his control will be something to keep an eye on.
Opposing Lester will be right-hander Brandon Morrow, who is enjoying a breakout campaign if not for the long stretch he spent on the disabled list battling an oblique injury. In his 17 appearances, though, the 28-year-old has held opponents to a 1.12 WHIP over 99 2/3 innings pitched. Morrow's career history against Boston doesn't match his success in 2012, though, as in 15 games (seven starts) the Red Sox have beat him up (9.53 ERA).
First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. ET, but you can tune into NESN beginning at high noon with Red Sox First Pitch. Or just stick right here with NESN.com, as this Red Sox Live Blog will have the starting lineups and more leading up to the game.
