But if the Sox want to get back in the hunt, they really need to sweep this series in Toronto. That will be a tall order given that they'll have to beat Burnett tonight - who has never lost to the Sox - and Doc Hallady.Paul byrd gets the call tonight against Burnett. This will be his 5th start against the Jays since the start of August. Thanks to a shellacking by the Jays his last time out, Byrd has a 2-2 split in those four games. His biggest problem has been the long ball - he's given up 8 as a Red Sox - but he still managed to win 5 straight games before losing to the Jays last week.
The Jays tagged him for 5 runs and 10 hits over 5 innings at Fenway, suggesting that the Toronto hitters may have seen too much of Byrd for his own good lately. It's possible Byrd is also giving away pitches, something he thought he had fixed in his win over the Rangers - but he better be sure with a shot at the division title in his hands tonight...
As I mentioned, the Jays will be throwing AJ Burnett at us again. He's 5-0 with a 2.37 ERA and 47 Ks in 49+ innings against the Sox... he's also 10-3 at home this year... and he's coming into this game with back-to-back shut out victories.
Bottom Line: The Jays have the advantage here, but with Lowell and Bay likely to be back in the lineup, the Sox could put up enough runs to win if Byrd can keep a mediocre Jays lineup under 4 runs.
Surviving Grady also warns us that there maybe some "advertising shenanigans" going on in Canada... and since Centerfield showed us this afternoon that Byrd is an expert on "spread killing" these ads could prove troublesome...
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