The Boston Red Sox Look To Rebound Against the Toronto Blue Jays

Wagering: 1.888.238.8018 - 1.888.889.4313
Customer Service: 1.877.717.7747 - 1.888.889.4368

: 1.888.238.8198 - 1.888.889.4312
: 1.888.378.0888 - 1.888.889.4219

The Boston Red Sox Look To Rebound Against the Toronto Blue Jays

The Boston Red Sox lost the first game in the series to the Toronto Blue Jays in extra innings, despite an excellent offensive output.

Boston’s John Lackey seemed to be turning the corner after a tough start before another ugly outing last week. He’ll try to bounce back again Wednesday night when the Red Sox seek to avoid a two-game sweep north of the border against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Lackey (2-4, 7.16 ERA) struggled in his first two starts of 2011, giving up 15 runs in 8 2-3 innings, but the right-hander yielded only three total runs in his subsequent three outings, giving the Red Sox reason to believe he was starting to turn things around.

That was before his outing Thursday, in which he yielded eight runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings of an 11-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels - for whom he pitched his first eight major league seasons. Lackey got booed loudly by the Fenway Park crowd after failing to record an out in the fifth, drawing sympathy even from his opponents.

Opposing hitters are batting .317 off Lackey, who is averaging a career-low 5.0 strikeouts per nine innings while posting an ERA nearly double his career norm. Facing the Blue Jays may not help his struggles. He is 4-5 with a 4.58 ERA in 15 career starts against them, including 1-2 with an 8.61 ERA in four starts since joining Boston in 2010.

The Red Sox (17-19) are in desperate need of a lengthy outing from Lackey after another taxing game on their bullpen. Boston’s relievers have pitched at least four innings in six of the last seven games, three of which have gone to extra innings. The rotation has a 5.75 ERA over that same stretch, failing to makes it out of the sixth inning five times.

Adrian Gonzalez hit his second home run of the night in the ninth to tie the game, but David Cooper drove in the winning run for Toronto with a sacrifice fly in the 10th.

Boston has dropped four of seven and has yet to reach .500 this year.

They start to climb towards the mark again with a win against the Blue Jays.

MLB Sports Betting Picks: Boston Red Sox

Bet the MLB Regular season at BetPhoenix. This online sportsbook has the best odds and wagering opportunities in the MLB regular season all the way up to the World Series.