Red Sox aim to rebound versus Blue Jays
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The Boston Red Sox are in search of some consistency and hope an upcoming series with the Toronto Blue Jays will help.
The Red Sox and Blue Jays will open a three-game AL East set Tuesday from Rogers Centre and Boston owns an 8-5 mark in the season series.
Boston is 3-4 on its 10-game road trip and lost three of four at Kansas City over the weekend, dropping Sunday's finale by a 4-3 score. John Lackey was saddled with the loss and he surrendered all four runs in seven innings. He was outdueled by James Shields, who allowed three runs -- two earned -- in seven innings.
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"It was a grind early," Lackey said. "I wasn't feeling really great. I had a couple of 3-2 counts and didn't make my pitch."
Ryan Lavarnway had two hits and two RBI for the Red Sox. Jacoby Ellsbury went 0-for-5 in defeat, ending a 21-game hitting streak against the Royals. Stephen Drew extended his season-high hit streak to 12 games with two hits.
Taking the mound for the Red Sox up north will be Ryan Dempster. The veteran right-hander is 2-0 in his last eight starts and the Red Sox are 7-1 in that span, winning his past five appearances. Dempster has not recorded a decision in back-to-back outings and has allowed 12 runs in that time. In a 7-5 win at Houston last Wednesday, Dempster struck out seven, did not walk a batter and yielded five runs in six frames.
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Dempster is 6-8 with a 4.67 ERA in 23 starts this season and 1-1 with a 5.10 ERA in six career games, five of which have been starts, against Toronto.
Toronto has lost two in a row and four of five games, and will resume its seven-game homestand Tuesday night.
The Jays lost three of four to the visiting Oakland Athletics and suffered a 5-1 loss in Monday's series finale. Oakland rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth and Casey Janssen permitted all four of those runs to take the loss.
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"It just kind of snowballed on me," Janssen said about the inning.
J.A. Happ's start was spoiled by the bullpen and he tossed seven innings of one-run ball in the no-decision.
Jose Bautista had the only RBI and Brett Lawrie led the Blue Jays with a pair of hits in defeat. Lawrie has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games.
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Todd Redmond will handle pitching duties for Toronto Tuesday and he is 1-1 with a 4.22 ERA in eight games (5 starts). He hasn't posted a decision in four straight outings and gave up three runs in 3 2/3 innings of a 7-5 loss at the LA Angels on Aug. 2.
Redmond will face the Red Sox for the first time in his career.