Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Red Sox will look to extend their five-game winning streak to six for the second time this season when they face off against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
The Red Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Houston Astros at Fenway Park over the weekend, and are sitting pretty with a MLB-best 18-7 record, the best start they have had since 2002. A big part of the success of the Red Sox this season has been their outstanding starting rotation.
Jon Lester, who will start game one of the three-game series in Toronto, anchors the top of the rotation with Clay Buchholz, and both are pitching well enough to be considered AL Cy Young award candidates. Lester has posted a 4-0 record with a 2.27 ERA, while Buchholz has posted a practically flawless 5-0 record with a 1.19 ERA and 39 strikeouts over 37.2 innings.
In Lester’s last outing against the Blue Jays, the left-hander tossed seven shutout innings with six strikeouts on his way to his second win of the season. Over his career against the Blue Jays, the 29-year-old has posted a 12-7 record with a 3.67 ERA and 131 strikeouts over 144.2 innings of work.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Blue Jays would like to put an end to their current four-game losing streak and right a ship that’s gotten off to a bad 9-17 start to the 2013 season. Currently sitting in fifth in the AL East and 9.5 games out of first, the Blue Jays need to get something going soon if they want to contend come October.
The Blue Jays will send Brandon Morrow to the mound in Tuesday night, hoping he can turn things around. The 28-year-old is off to a rocky start in 2013, posting a 0-2 record with a 5.27 ERA over his first five starts.
Morrow doesn’t have an easy road ahead of him squaring off against the Red Sox on Tuesday night. Over his career, the right hander is 1-3 with a 8.28 ERA in 45.2 innings against the Red Sox.
First pitch for game one is set for 7:07 p.m. eastern time. Will the streaks of both teams continue, or will they come to an end?
Justin Soderberg is a Boston Red Sox writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, ”Like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.
