Blue Jays Preview: Red Sox in the way of Toronto’s momentum

Game 4:  Monday, April 18th  –  11:05 a.m. ET

J.A. Happ (1-0, 2.25 ERA)
Clay Buchholz (0-1, 10.00)

One of the biggest questions entering the 2016 Blue Jays season was which version of J.A. Happ they would be getting. Would it be the 2015 Seattle Mariners Happ, or ideally, the 2015 Pittsburgh Pirates Happ?

So far it’s been the latter.

Happ has worked six full innings in both of his 2016 outings, which is a welcome sight itself as the tall lefty has struggled to work deep into games in his career. Coming off a career high innings total in 2015, he’ll have every opportunity to top it again.

In his most recent outing, Happ allowed just one earned run on seven hits and three walks, doing well to avoid stringing any of those together. It’s still very early, but with another good outing for Happ here, there’s an opening for real optimism.

Clay Buchholz, on the other hand, has gotten knocked around hard in 2016. The right-hander has allowed five earned runs in both of his starts (4.0 and 5.0 IP), walking three batters in each.

Especially if the Blue Jays’ lineup can continue to round the corner through the early stages of this series and begin to work a few more walks, this fourth and final game against Buchholz represents their greatest opportunity for a “boom” game.