There is no better way of describing the confrontation between the Boston Red Sox and the last-place Toronto, when the divisional rivals go head to head. Punters are right to consider this a lopsided match, but odds of 1.80 offered by most bookmakers make it a very tempting proposition. Boston is on the verge of winning the 19th match in April, setting a new franchise record and consolidating its position at the top of the East division.
Superb pitching and some phenomenal performances from sluggers, brought the Red Sox at the top of the food chain with 18 victories in 25 games. They are also the holders of the best away record in Major League Baseball, and lost just twice on the road which would make them more than a match for the struggling Blue Jays. David Ortiz is not only one of the most prolific players for the visitors, but quite surprising one of the most constant players, scoring run after run.
Nothing can be achieved at least not at the same scale as what Boston has accomplished without formidable pitching and that’s exactly what Jon Lester stands for. The veteran starting pitcher is undefeated this season, and with four winning decisions in as many games his earned run average of 2.27 is reassuring. The last time he pitched against Oakland he gave his team a scare early on, but fortunately for him the offensive rebounded quickly and provided him with the necessary runs of support.
This time he should have a much easier mission against the Blue Jays, despite the fact that the match is played in Toronto as the opener in a three-game series. His counterpart is Brenden Morrow who has an abysmal record against the Red Sox and an equally disappointing season start. He is still searching for the first victory in 2013 after losing both decisions and compiling an ERA of 5.27, simply too high to make any runs of support matter.
Against Boston he never found a way of shutting down the sluggers and he conceded an average of nine runs per match. The visitors will reactivate Hanrahan who was sidelined with an injury but trained with the team and appears to be fit to face Toronto. Punters shouldn’t have any second thoughts about backing the visitors tonight especially with the odds offered by bookmakers being unreasonably high when the best and the worst teams in the East division go head to head.