The Red Sox and Blue Jays will face off in an AL East matchup at 7:07 PM ET at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Boston is 78-78 and they are 4th in the AL East, while the Blue Jays are 73-83 and they have lost three straight. Toronto is the slight money line favorite (-118).
Monday’s forecast in Toronto calls for rain and temperatures in the low 60s. NESN will have the TV coverage for tonight’s Red Sox game. Tonight’s starting pitching matchup features Tanner Houck for the Red Sox and Chris Bassitt for the Blue Jays.
Red Sox Battle Blue Jays: Houck Takes the Mound as Boston Aims to Break Even
The Boston Red Sox are 78-78 and are 14 games behind the Yankees in the AL East. They are 4th in the division and have gone 22-24 against other AL East teams. The Red Sox are on the road today against the Blue Jays, and the over/under line for the game is set at 8 runs. Boston’s over/under record is 77-71, and they are 14-10-3 when the line is set at 8 runs. Tanner Houck is starting for the Red Sox today, and he has a 8-10 record with a 3.21 ERA and a WHIP of 1.16. He has 19 quality starts this season and is averaging 7.98 strikeouts per nine innings. In his last outing, he went four innings and gave up one earned run.
The Red Sox offense is 9th in runs per game at 4.7, and they are 5th in home runs with 193. Their team batting average of .253 is 6th, and they are 5th in slugging. Connor Wong has gone 7 for 22 over his last six games, and Triston Casas has hit four home runs in his last seven games. Jarren Duran is on a three-game hitting streak. Boston is 37-41 at home and 41-37 on the road. They are 44-34 on the run line as the underdog, compared to 30-48 at home. Overall, their run line record is 74-82, and they have an average run margin of 0.1 runs per game.
Blue Jays Look to Bounce Back Behind Bassitt as Guerrero Jr. Stays Hot
The Blue Jays are 73-83 this season and trail the Yankees by 19 games in the AL East. They are 38-37 at home and 35-46 on the road. Toronto is 44-29 when favored and 20-29 in division matchups. The over/under line for their games is 8 runs at home, and they are 24-17-2 in those matchups. The under has hit in their last five games.
Chris Bassitt will be on the mound for the Blue Jays, and he is 10-13 with a 4.16 ERA. He is coming off a rough outing vs. the Rangers, giving up one earned run in 3 2/3 innings. The Blue Jays offense is 20th in runs per game at 4.2, and they are 13th in batting average. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitting .327 with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs this season, and he is hitting .455 with 2 home runs in his last five games.
Blue Jays Poised for Victory Over Red Sox: Bassitt and Houck Set for Strikeout Showdown
With the Blue Jays at home, we like them to pick up the win over the Red Sox. The money line for the Blue Jays is at -118, and our predicted final score is 6-5 in favor of the Blue Jays.
Looking at the starting pitchers, Chris Bassitt is projected to finish with seven strikeouts, which is the highest among all starters. As for Tanner Houck, he is projected to finish with five strikeouts and is fourth among starters.
