Surging Blue Jays gunning for the Red Sox: Full preview

Friday, June 3rd  –  7:10 PM ET  –  Fenway Pahhhk

R.A. Dickey (2-6, 4.64 ERA)  vs.
David Price (7-1, 5.11 ERA)

Dickey and Price meet for the second time in a row with both veterans still looking to find a consistent groove in 2016. Both seem to be approaching it, too.

The Blue Jays knuckleballer carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning last time out against the Red Sox, but found trouble quickly. He was forced out of the game after five and a third innings, getting tagged with three earned runs on three hits and four walks, striking out just one batter.

“I didn’t really have a swing-and-miss knuckleball today,” Dickey told Gregor Chisholm following the game, “but I did have a really hard one and it was moving late and off the barrel enough that they were hitting pieces of it.”

Creating a variance in velocities is key for Dickey, and given that the Red Sox did not see his A-game last weekend, he may be able to negate their advantage of seeing him again so soon by creating better movement on the pitch.

The Red Sox have had Dickey’s number this year, though, and patience at the plate has been the key. On April 15th, Dickey also walked four Red Sox batters and was unable to complete the fifth inning, allowing two earned runs on six hits.

Price, on the other hand, looked close to returning to his old self last weekend coming off three consecutive wins. The left-hander pitched six and a third, allowing two earned runs on five hits. The Blue Jays managed to work three walks off Price, however, striking out just three times.

Jose Bautista won’t be dreading the rematch, though. The Jays right-fielder is a career .345 hitter against Price in 55 at-bats with six home runs and 14 RBIs.

Next: Stro Show faces The Other Knuckler

Saturday, June 4th  –  4:05 PM ET

Marcus Stroman (5-1, 4.46 ERA)  vs.
Steven Wright (5-4, 2.45 ERA)

We regret to inform you that the knuckler-on-knuckler matchup won’t be coming to fruition as the Blue Jays have decided to push young right-hander Marcus Stroman back one day to face Steven Wright of the Red Sox.

These are trying times for the staff ace, however, both in terms of his recent performance and his numbers against the Red Sox in 2016.

Stroman’s last time out against these same Sox, he allowed seven earned runs over five and a third innings on 11 hits, the second time in three starts that he has surrendered double-digit hits. On May 17th against the Tampa Bay Rays, Stroman allowed 13 hits, resulting in another seven earned runs, over five and two thirds.

Boston also got the best of Stroman back on April 8th, scoring five earned runs on six hits over five and a third. He’s due for a bounce back start in more ways than one.

Countering for the Red Sox, Steven Wright has quietly been an extremely valuable starter in 2016 with very few bumps in the road. Here’s an interesting video from 2013 where he describes the unique aspects of his own signature pitch.

Wright is coming off a complete game on May 30th against the Orioles in which he allowed just two earned runs on seven hits striking out seven with five walks. Excluding one rough outing against the Houston Astros in mid-May (4.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER), his past four starts have gone 9.0, 7.0, 8.0, and 9.0 innings.

The knuckler faced Toronto in back-to-back starts in April, too, where he found success. The two outings combined for 12.2 innings where he allowed three earned runs on 12 hits, striking out 11 batters

Next: Old Reliable takes the ball in the series finale

Sunday, June 5th   –   1:35 PM ET

Marco Estrada (3-2, 2.43 ERA)  vs.
Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0, 3.00 ERA)

For the Blue Jays, Marco Estrada has arguably been the most reliable source of strong, reliable outings. Unfortunately the offence hasn’t always shown up for the right-hander who continues to work deep into ball games.

Estrada has allowed one earned run or less in six of his starts this season and is coming off his most valuable outing. Against the New York Yankees with the Toronto bullpen desperately in need of a breather, Estrada threw eight shutout innings, allowing just three hits and striking out six. Manager John Gibbons acknowledged that Estrada even had enough endurance left for the ninth inning, but was removed to keep his shoulder healthy.

With his ERA now sitting at 2.43 and a WHIP of 1.02, Estrada could be well on his way to chasing down a 200-inning regular season for the first time in his career.

The young Eduardo Rodriguez counters for Boston and has just returned from the disabled list (knee) to take the spot of Clay Buchholz in the starting rotation.

Rodriguez threw 121.2 innings for the Red Sox in his major league debut last season, going 10-6 with a 3.85 ERA. The left-hander is currently pitching with a knee brace on, but has looked strong since making his return to the mound.

Next: An update on the Blue Jays top pitching prospects

In his first start out against the Baltimore Orioles on May 31st Rodriguez threw six strong innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three. Rodriguez did not issue a walk in the game. In two career starts against the Blue Jays last season, Rodriguez was very good (6.o IP, 1 ER) and very bad (4.2 IP, 9 ER)