Blue Jays try to avoid series sweep against the Red Sox

Boston Red Sox (87-71, third in the AL East) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (90-68, second in the AL East)

Toronto; Thursday, 7:07 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Brayan Bello (11-8, 3.34 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 121 strikeouts); Blue Jays: Louie Varland (4-3, 3.10 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 70 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Blue Jays -138, Red Sox +118; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays play in the final game of a three-game series. The Red Sox can sweep the series with a victory.

Toronto has a 50-27 record at home and a 90-68 record overall. The Blue Jays have gone 36-17 in games when they did not give up a home run.

Boston is 87-71 overall and 41-39 on the road. The Red Sox have the fourth-best team batting average in MLB play at .255.

The matchup Thursday is the 13th time these teams square off this season. The Blue Jays hold a 7-5 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS:

Jarren Duran has 39 doubles, 13 triples, 16 home runs and 82 RBIs for the Red Sox. Alex Bregman is 9 for 39 with two home runs and five RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 4-6, .196 batting average, 5.32 ERA, outscored by 20 runs

Red Sox: 6-4, .281 batting average, 3.60 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs

INJURIES: Blue Jays: Ty France: 10-Day IL (oblique), Chris Bassitt: 15-Day IL (back), Bo Bichette: 10-Day IL (knee), Robinson Pina: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nick Sandlin: 60-Day IL (elbow), Yimi Garcia: 60-Day IL (ankle), Bowden Francis: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Burr: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Angel Bastardo: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Red Sox: Brennan Bernardino: 15-Day IL (lat), Vaughn Grissom: 60-Day IL (foot), Dustin May: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jordan Hicks: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Roman Anthony: 10-Day IL (oblique), Hunter Dobbins: 60-Day IL (acl), Marcelo Mayer: 60-Day IL (wrist), Richard Fitts: 15-Day IL (biceps), Luis Guerrero: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (flexor), Liam Hendriks: 60-Day IL (hip), Josh Winckowski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Kutter Crawford: 60-Day IL (knee), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow)

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.