GAME #14, BOSTON RED SOX AT TORONTO BLUE JAYS

[Bear]

RED SOX V BLUE JAYS

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017, 7:07 PM AT ROGERS CENTRE

TV:  NESN, MLBN, SNET

BOSTON, 8-5,............................................................................TORONTO, 2-10

BOSTON:

BRIAN JOHNSON, LHP, 0-0, -.-, 0K

The lefty prospect will be recalled from triple-A to make his second big league
start in place of Eduardo Rodriguez, who is on paternity list.  Johnson's first
start for the Sox was July 2l, 2015, when he gave up three runs in  5 1/3 innings.

TORONTO:

MARCUS STORMAN, RHP, 1-1, 1.76 ERA, 8K

Storman deserved a better fate April 12 against the Brewers,
taking the loss despite pitching a complete game and allowing
just two runs.  Consistently spotting his sinker helped Storman
to force 15 ground balls outs.

Sox, Blue Jays set for AL East showdown

Gregor Chisholm

The Blue Jays will be looking to Marcus Stroman to help climb out of a 2-10 hole, as the righty kicks off a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.

For the Red Sox, left-hander Brian Johnson will make his second Major League start due to Eduardo Rodriguez going on the paternity list.

Boston and Toronto entered the year as the favorites in the American League East, but it was Baltimore and New York who have jumped out to an early lead. The Blue Jays lost nine of their first 10 games while the Red Sox had some struggles of their own because of a lack of offense.

The Blue Jays will have the luxury of entering this series following an off-day, while Boston has a quick turnaround following its annual Patriots' Day game at Fenway Park.

"My goal is to take the ball every five days and go nine innings," said Stroman, who picked up his first complete game since Sept. 8, 2014, against the Cubs. "I don't want to come out. I want to finish the game every single time. That's the mindset. That's the mentality and I think it's the mentality across the board for all of our starting pitchers."

He allowed just two runs on seven hits and one walk in that contest but was still saddled with the loss because of a lack of run support. Once again most of his success came by keeping the ball out of the air with 15 of his outs coming via the ground ball and another four through strikeouts.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS GAME

• The Blue Jays will be without Josh Donaldson and Aaron Sanchez for this entire series. Donaldson was recently placed on the 10-day disabled list because of soreness in his right calf while Sanchez is dealing with a blister on his right hand. Sanchez originally was supposed to pitch Thursday in a game vs. Chris Sale.

• Jackie Bradley Jr. won't play for Boston, as he finishes out his stint on the disabled list by starting a Minor League rehab assignment for Triple-A Pawtucket. The Red Sox hope to have Bradley back in the lineup for the start of a three-game series in Baltimore on Friday.

• Pablo Sandoval, who was out of the Boston lineup on Monday, entered the day batting .143/.196/.381, despite three home runs. But Statcast also shows that he has into eight outs on fly balls or line drives that, based on their exit velocity and launch angle, had a hit probability of 40 percent or higher (in other words, a .400-plus expected average). Through Sunday, that trailed only Detroit's Nicholas Castellanos (11).

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170416224669074/sox-blue-jays-set-for-al-east-showdown/?game_pk=490297

[Bear]

Game 14: Red Sox at Blue Jays

Peter Abraham

Here are the lineups:


RED SOX (8-5)                                              BLUE JAYS (2-10)
Bogaerts SS                                                  Pillar CF
Benintendi CF                                                Bautista RF
Betts RF                                                        Morales DH
Ramirez DH                                                   Tulowitzki SS
Moreland 1B                                                  Smoak 1B
Young LF                                                       Martin C
Sandoval 3B                                                  Pearce LF
Vazquez C                                                     Barney 3B
Hernandez 2B                                                Travis 2B
Pitching: LHP Brian Johnson (season debut).    Pitching: RHP Marcus Stroman (1-1, 1.76).

Game time: 7:07 p.m.

TV/Radio: NESN, MLB Network / WEEI.


Red Sox vs. Stroman: Bogaerts 8-17, Betts 4-16, Holt 5-16, Pedroia 7-15, Ramirez 2-8, Vazquez 2-8, Moreland 0-5, Young 0-6.

Blue Jays vs. Johnson: No history.

Stat of the Day: John Farrell is 37-39 against the Blue Jays since he left them to become manager of the Red Sox.

Long road back: Brian Johnson is being recalled from Triple A Pawtucket to fill in for Eduardo Rodriguez, who is on paternity leave. It will be the first major league start for Johnson since July 21, 2015 when he allowed four runs in 4.1 innings at Houston. Johnson ended that season with an elbow injury and shortly after the season was the victim of a carjacking in Florida.

In 2016, he appeared in only 19 games because of a mid-season leave to deal with issues related to anxiety. Johnson has appeared in two games for Triple A Pawtucket this season and allowed two runs over 10.2 innings. Johnson threw 6.2 innings and allowed one run in his last start, which came on Thursday. He threw 100 pitches in that game.

Other notes:
The Sox have won three straight and four of five. …
The Blue Jays are off to the dreadful start. They have scored 34 runs over 12 games and given up 54. They are last in the league in batting average (.212) and OPS (.592).

Toronto also has its best player, Josh Donaldson, on the disabled list with a calf strain. …

Red Sox pitching has allowed seven earned runs in the last 27 innings and struck out 40. …

The Red Sox bullpen has allowed two runs in its last 18 innings. …

The Sox are 6-2 in games decided by two or fewer runs. …

The Red Sox lead the American League with a .328 batting average (38 of 116) with runners in scoring position. …

Craig Kimbrel is not likely to be available for the game. He has appeared in four of the last five games (over five days) and thrown 54 pitches.

Song of the Day: “Acquainted” by the Weeknd.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2017/04/18/game-red-sox-blue-jays/TsyXrFwXRIarVMckGyqxuK/story.html

[Bill-806]

As  BILL BELICHEK would say,  "on to TORONTO" !! thumb_u

[Rob from Mass]

Not expecting much from Johnson just hoping he somehow can keep it close.

[Schloicka]

Held them to 2 runs. Looked like it would be much worse. Need the offense to step up tonight.

[ipot]

We're gonna have to hammer out like 8 runs to win this.....

[longgame]

Not expecting much from Johnson just hoping he somehow can keep it close.

You were right not to expect much.

I'm baffled as to why, when the Sox face a guy who was just called up they can't hit a thing and make the guy look like a stud.  Usually people attribute it to not having any scouting.  What freaking scouting did Toronto have on Johnson that they were teeing off on him like that?  From what I've seen he's got a big fat curve that he leaves in the strike zone.  MLB guys will hit that hard, even a slumping team.

Let's hope the bats wake up before they get too far behind.

[longgame]

We're gonna have to hammer out like 8 runs to win this.....

thumb_u Need a "like" button!

[markj]

Moreland is certainly earning his pay.

[Schloicka]

Good job by Moreland to come through.

[ipot]

I 3rd that on Moreland.  Off to a great start.  Hope he has a career year. 

[markj]

That didn't last long.

[markj]

WTH is Panda trying to steal? They could throw him out with a beachball.

[Schloicka]

WTH is Panda trying to steal? They could throw him out with a beachball.

Wasn't a steal. Was a hit and run that the hitter didn't make contact on.

[markj]

Yeah. Still, risky play with Panda. Fast he is not.