Series Preview: Sox at Blue Jays

Red Sox (7-4) at Toronto (7-5)

GM1 Tonight @ 7:05
Matsuzaka vs. Chacin
ADVANTAGE: Boston
GM2. Wed 7:05
Wakefield vs. Okha
ADVANTAGE: Boston
GM3. Thu, 12:35
Tavarez vs. Halladay
ADVANTAGE: Duh! The Human Gascan vs. a Cy Young winner?

-WHO'S HOT:

Toronto:

-Alex Rios has gotten off to a fast start for the second year in row; the young rightfielder is batting .308 with 2 homers and 9 RBIs and will be counted on to pick up the slack with Troy Glaus on the DL

-Aaron Hill has been a pleasant surprise for the Jays. The second baseman is hitting a hearty .370 with 2 homers and a team-leading 11 runs batted in

Boston:

-Although he has gone hitless in the last two games, J.D. Drew is still swinging the hottest stick on the club; his .342 average is good for 9th in the AL

-Big Papi is on a tear. He went 6-12 with 2 doubles & 2 homers in the Angels series and has had 11 ribbies in his last 6 games

WHO's NOT:

Toronto:
-Frank Thomas is really hurtin': the big man is batting only .200 with a homer and 4 RBIs, and those came over a week ago on a grand slam against the D-Rays.

-BJ Ryan: see below

-Lyle Overbay a .250 average wasn't what the Jays envisioned when they brought the lifetime .300 hitter (okay, .297) over from Milwaukee two season ago

Boston:

-Manny the mercurial Sox slugger has yet to get on track this season; he hasn't hit a homer and is batting just .200 with 6 RBI. Must be the hair

-Coco Crisp a .111 average and 2 runs scored isn't gonna cut it, and if he doesn't pick it up soon he will be riding the bench and/or on the next trade outta town

-Captain Tek looks like his slump of 2006 has crept into this season,too. With a .200 batting average and just 6 hits, we might just have to face the fact that Tek's days of being a dangerous hitter may be long gone
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The Sox travel north of the border for their first series of the year with fellow AL East contender Blue Jays, and the teams, though separated by just one half game, appear headed in opposite directions.

Toronto jumped out to a 4-2 start but has alternated wins and losses for the past week and now sit at 7-5. But that's not the bad news.

The bad news for Toronto fans (all 1,200 of them) is that a number of major cogs in their pennant-contending team are currently out of action with various injuries, many of them serious. Here's a rundown of the Blue Jay injury report:

-3B Troy Glaus: bone spurs and a bad hammy have landed the oft-injured big man on the DL again; he'll be out until at least the end of the month. The Brothers Jason, McDonald & Smith, will attempt to replace Glaus in the lineup & on the field

-Closer B.J. Ryan: after blowing 2 of his first 5 save chances, touting a 12.46 ERA and getting lit up like a Skid Row drunk his last outing, Ryan immediately was placed on the DL with an elbow sprain. Sounds minor, right? The Jays predict he could be out for 4-6 weeks. Another Jason, Frasor, will assume the closing duties in Ryan's absence.

-LF Reed Johnson: the sparkplug player has decided to have surgery on a herniated disc in his back and will be out until mid-July, meaning rookie Adam Lind will take his place in the lineup

Gee, that's not so bad, huh? Just in case you didn't think it was, take into account that three of the best hitters on the team aren't hitting their weight (Frank Thomas-.200, Lyle Overbay-.250, Vernon Wells-.245) and after ace Roy Halladay (2-0, 2.45) the rotation is weaker than day-old coffee and what you've got is a time to panic for baseball fans up in the great white north.

On the Sox side Dice-K will try to brush off the disappointment of that heartbreaking loss to Felix Hernandez last week and he'll get to do it in a road game in climate-controlled conditions. No wind, rain or unruly fans to deal with tonight, just a battered team looking to get up off the mat against the team they are chasing in the race for the AL East.

Good luck, Jays. You guys could use some.
(Just kidding; hope the Sox crush you worse than they did the Angels. No mercy, baby!)