GAME #80, BOSTON RED SOX AT TORONTO BLUE JAYS

[Bear]

RED SOX V BLUE JAYS

FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2017, 7 PM AT ROGERS CENTRE

TV:  NESN, SNET

BOSTON, (44-35).....................................................................................TORONTO, (37-41)

BOSTON:

DOUG FISTER, RHP, 0-1, 4.50 ERA, 6K

After a solid debut for the Red Sox, Fister takes his act on the road when
he opens a ten-game road trip in Toronto.  Fister is 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA in
four career starts at Rogers Centre.

TORONTO:

MARCO ESTRADA, RHP, 4-6, 4.89 ERA 102K

Estrada turned things around in his last start by allowing three runs
over seven innings vs. Kansas City.  Prior to that, Estrada gave up 23 runs
over his previous 16 1/3 innings of work, including five homers.

Fister, Estrada set to square off in Toronto

Craig Forde

The Red Sox embark on a 10-game road trip that will lead them into the All-Star break, with their first stop north of the border, where Toronto right-hander Marco Estrada (4-6, 4.89 ERA) awaits them for the first game of a three game set.

The Red Sox counter with Doug Fister (0-1, 4.50), who will make his second start for Boston after being claimed off waivers last week. He posted a quality start in his debut with the club on Sunday, allowing three earned runs over six innings against the Angels.

Despite still being a fresh face, Fister's teammates feel he's getting acclimated within the group.

"He has the type of personality where he can get in good, quick, with anybody," Red Sox outfielder Chris Young said. "He's got a real good personality, a real personable guy. You can tell he enjoys playing the game, has fun, and he goes out there and competes. That's all you can ask for from a guy."

He'll need to be strong again in opposing Estrada, who at times has been tough on the Red Sox, including an April start in which he allowed three hits and two walks while striking out seven over six scoreless innings.

Per Statcast, Estrada has been especially strong in getting swinging strikes when working from behind. Opponents have missed on 33.5 percent of their swings against the Blue Jays hurler when they have had the favorable count. That's the second-highest such rate, behind only Max Scherzer, and he has averaged just 84.7 mph on those pitches, the second-lowest velocity among starting pitchers behind in the count, ahead of only knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

"He's a tough pitcher," said Young, who broke up an Estrada no-hit bid last June with a homer in the eighth inning. "He has great command of all his pitches and mixes the ball up really well. It's going to be a dogfight going into the game, but every day brings a new challenge. You never know what he's going to come with that day."

Despite the teams' opposite location in the American League standings, the Red Sox know better than to overlook the Blue Jays.

"You don't take anybody lightly," Young said. "No matter if it's the team with the best record in baseball, or the worst. That doesn't matter going into the series. You know they're always going to play up and they always give us tough games, so we don't underestimate them in any way."

THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS GAME

• The Red Sox begin their second 10-game road trip, though this one will keep them away from Fenway Park longer than any other stretch this season. As the trip stretches into the All-Star break, Boston will go 14 days between home games. The Red Sox are 19-21 on the road (2-1 at Toronto) entering this series.

• In hitting his club's first leadoff home run of the season Wednesday night, Jose Bautista moved into a tie with Joe Carter for the seventh-most hits in franchise history, with 1,051. He also broke a fourth-place tie with Carter on the Blue Jays all-time RBI list; his 738 RBIs are within two of George Bell in third place.

• Fister's last outing versus the Blue Jays came on Aug. 1, 2016, while he was part of Houston's staff. He allowed just four hits over six scoreless innings and tallied a season-high eight strikeouts.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170629239525624/fister-estrada-set-to-square-off-in-toronto/?game_pk=491294

[Bear]

First of 3 in TOR:

Betts RF,
Benintendi LF,
Pedroia 2B,
Moreland 1B,
Ramirez DH,
Bradley Jr. CF,
Vázquez C,
Lin SS,
Marrero 3B,

Fister RHP.

[Bill-806]

  Looking forward to seeing Fister again.  Hope the sinker is working on the artificial surface ....  thumb_u

[Rob from Mass]

I heard this on local sports radio here today.Sox are 44-35 and that is 1 game better than their 43-36 after 79 games in 2016.

[Bill-806]

I heard this on local sports radio here today.Sox are 44-35 and that is 1 game better than their 43-36 after 79 games in 2016.

  B I N G O  dat !!!   Not bad considering BIG PAPI has not played in a game yet !! thumb_u rofl

[Bear]

Facing an excellent pitcher tonite....go sox

[Rob from Mass]

Facing an excellent pitcher tonite....go sox

Estrada`s last outing against KC was a good but prior to that his 4 other June starts he was bombed pretty good. Overall June ERA is 10.03

[Bill-806]

Facing an excellent pitcher tonite....go sox

Estrada`s last outing against KC was a good but prior to that his 4 other June starts he was bombed pretty good. Overall June ERA is 10.03

  ESTRADA , he used to pitch for Baltimore ??  Maybe it was his DAD, Chuck ???  rofl

[Rob from Mass]

His scum bag father left the family when Marco was very young.Chuck Estrada is no relation if memory serves me well.

[Bill-806]

His scum bag father left the family when Marco was very young.Chuck Estrada is no relation if memory serves me well.

  Sounds like you know the family well ??

[markj]

Fister is fitting in well with the "Dig Yourself an Early Hole" crowd.

[markj]

Bases loaded, no outs and...nothing. What a sad offense this is.

[Schloicka]

Bases loaded and no outs and get nothing. Pathetic. They swung at some bad pitches.

[markj]

Fister gets out of a bases loaded jam.

[markj]

So aside from a crappy 1st inning, Fister did ok. Nothing great, but still a winnable game.