TORONTO — As expected, the Red Sox won’t have their prized trade deadline acquisition starting Thursday as they try to avoid their longest losing streak of the season.
Interim manager Chad Tracy stuck to his plan to give Adley Rutschman a day off after he played back-to-back games in his return from the injured list Tuesday and Wednesday. Connor Wong will instead catch Payton Tolle as the Red Sox look to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays.
Boston has dropped three close games in Toronto to tie a season-long five-game losing streak. After winning 27 of 30, Boston has reached a nadir the club hopes to climb out of soon.
“We’re pretty battle-tested at this point,” Tracy said after Wednesday’s 6-4 loss. “I don’t think it’s a surprise (to) anybody. At the point we’re at with (40)-something games, you’re probably gonna go through a rough patch. We’re going through it now. We’ve got to fight our way out of it.”
With Wong playing over Rutschman, the Red Sox are going back to their pre-Rutschman order with second baseman Nick Sogard leading off and designated hitter Masataka Yoshida hitting fifth. Yoshida had been in the No. 1 spot for the last two games with Rutschman hitting third. Right fielder Wilyer Abreu is back in the No. 3 spot Thursday in Rutschman’s absence.
Tolle is coming off one of the best starts of his young career as he struck out 14 Athletics hitters and allowed just one run on two hits Friday night at Fenway. He enters with a 3.20 ERA and will pitch opposite future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer on Thursday afternoon.
Rutschman is 1-for-6 with three walks and two strikeouts in two games as a member of the Red Sox. Wong will bat ninth.
The Red Sox made a pregame roster move, placing setup man Garrett Whitlock on the 15-day injured list and recalling Greg Weissert from Triple-A.
First pitch is at 3:07 p.m. ET.
BOSTON RED SOX (64-56) vs. TORONTO BLUE JAYS (59-63) · ROGERS CENTRE · TORONTO, ON · GAME 121
FIRST PITCH: 3:07 p.m. ET
TV CHANNEL: NESN
RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM
PITCHING PROBABLES: LHP Payton Tolle (7-6, 3.20 ERA) vs. RHP Max Scherzer (1-4, 7.25 ERA)
RED SOX LINEUP:
- Nick Sogard 2B
- Ceddanne Rafaela CF
- Wilyer Abreu RF
- Willson Contreras 1B
- Masataka Yoshida DH
- Caleb Durbin 3B
- Jarren Duran LF
- Andruw Monasterio SS
- Connor Wong C
BLUE JAYS LINEUP:
- Charles McAdoo LF
- Ernie Clement 2B
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
- George Springer DH
- Kazuma Okamoto 3B
- Andrés Giménez SS
- Brandon Valenzuela C
- Myles Straw CF
- Nathan Lukes RF
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