Game 1Paul Byrd (4-1, 3.82) vs AJ Burnett (17-10, 4.31)
Byrd faced the Blue Jays three starts in a row in August, once with the Tribe and twice with the Sox. He went 2-1 with a 4.07 ERA in those games. That's pretty much what youy get from Uncle Paul... 6 or 7 innings and 4 runs, but he's won 4 of 5 starts since coming to Boston and wins are what the Red Sox need before they head to Tampa next week.
The long ball has been Byrd's biggest problem, giving up 7 ding dongs in 33 innings with the Sox. Alex Rios (2) and Lyle Overbay (1) have taken him deep this year and both players are red hot right now. Byrd need to keep the ball in the park and the Jays off the board because he'll be sharing the rubber with a guy that has never lost to the Red Sox...
AJ Burnett is 4-0 with a 2.70 ERA against Boston. He gives his team 6+ innings almost every time he starts and averages 6.7 Ks per outing. The Sox will have their work cut out form them in Game 1, but they did get to Burnett the last time he faced them. The Sox score 5 runs on 7 hits and Pedroia and Coco took him deep, but it took 11 innings and a game winning homer from Jed Lowrie to beat the Jays that night.
Who to Watch: Sean Casey is due to start and with a .565 BA against Burnett, this should be the game.
Game 2Bartolo Colon (4-2, 4.09) vs Jesse Litsch (11-8, 3.70)
El Gordo gets the call in Game 2. Colon hasn't pitched in the majors since June 16th. He's been rehabbing a strained oblique in the minors and finally got stretched out to 6 innings in his last outing with the Paw Sox on Sept. 1, giving up 1 run on 4 hits. Colon is a total wild card here... he managed to average 5.5 innings in his 6 starts with the Sox and never gave up for than 4 runs in a game, but mowing down a minor league lineup in September is a lot different than facing the red hot Blue Jays.
Facing Jesse Litsch won't make it any easier for Colon and the Sox. Litsch has been on a tear lately, blanking the Tigers, Red Sox and Twins in 3 of his last 5 starts while posting a 1.28 ERA during that stretch. The Sox were pretty useless against him back on August 23rd and he's 4-1 in 5 starts against Boston... However, Litsch is much better at home (2.78 ERA, .242 BAA) than his on the road (4.54 ERA, .297 BAA) so the Sox could catch a break there.
Who to Watch: Mike Lowell - .300, HR, 23 RBI and JD Drew - .333, 2B, HR 2 RBI have hit Litsch well.
Bottom Line: With Doc Halladay set to pitch on Sunday, the perfect scenario would be to sweep the double header, but it's unlikely the duo of Byrd and Colon will keep the Jays off the board, so it's going to require some offense and a full team effort.
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