Surging Blue Jays gunning for the Red Sox: Full preview

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)