Beckett gets second chance at win No. 4
Toronto (13-12) at Boston (15-11), 7:05 p.m. ET
By Mike Petraglia
Coming off their first rainout of the season, the Red Sox will turn their sights to another American League East foe when they welcome the Blue Jays to town for a two-game series Wednesday night at Fenway.
Not five weeks into the season, this will be the seventh meeting between the two clubs. The Blue Jays have had their way with Boston this year, taking four of the first six meetings, including the final two games of a three-game series, April 11-13, in Boston.
"We've seen them a lot," Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis said. "It would be good for us to come out here and take two games from the Blue Jays. It would be really big because of the way they've been playing us. They've been playing us real well and to take two games from them right now would be huge to get a little momentum on our side."
Red Sox skipper Terry Francona has decided to skip lefty Lenny DiNardo in the rotation, pushing his next start back to Sunday while giving the ball to Josh Beckett, who was scheduled to pitch in Tuesday's finale against the Yankees. The Jays counter with ace Roy Halladay.
Beckett never warmed up prior to Tuesday's rainout and is rested for Wednesday's contest. The Red Sox, behind Beckett, appeared on their way to victory April 21 at Rogers Centre, leading 6-3 in the eighth, when the Jays rallied for four run and escaped with a 7-6 win in 12 innings.
"They've played us well and we have Josh throwing [Wednesday] and I know he wants to get some revenge because he had such a good outing for about seven innings his last time," Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said.
The Blue Jays have scored 31 runs in their four wins over the Sox this season.
"They've hit, they've hit the ball real well and they've pitched real well against us," Youkilis added. "Their pitchers have held us down a lot and they've come out swinging. They have a really good ball team and they're definitely going to be in contention this year."
Pitching matchup
BOS: RHP Josh Beckett (3-1, 4.50 ERA)
Beckett is coming off arguably the worst start of his career. In that loss at Cleveland, Beckett was belted for a career-high nine runs, eight of which were earned. In this one, he will have a chance for redemption against the Blue Jays after giving up three homers in a no-decision on April 21.
TOR: RHP Roy Halladay (3-1, 2.84 ERA)
A high pitch count forced Halladay out early for the second game in a row, but that didn't stop of from picking up his second straight win. The right-hander threw 99 pitches in 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees. He allowed seven hits, but he worked well out of jams -- forcing 10 groundouts versus just two fly outs. On April 22, Halladay picked up a win against Boston after allowing one run on six hits in five innings.
Player to watch
Jonathan Papelbon, selected Tuesday as the American League Rookie of the Month for April, leads the Majors with 10 saves in as many chances.
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Up next
• Thursday: Red Sox (RHP Matt Clement, 2-2, 6.14 ERA) vs. Blue Jays (RHP Josh Towers, 0-5, 10.45 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Friday: Red Sox (RHP Curt Schilling, 4-1, 2.88 ERA) vs. Orioles (RHP Rodrigo Lopez, 1-3, 6.81 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Saturday: Red Sox (RHP Tim Wakefield, 1-4, 3.89 ERA) vs. Orioles (LHP Erik Bedard, 4-1, 3.58 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET