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Red Sox's Porcello looks to rebound vs. Blue Jays (Apr 19, 2017)
TORONTO -- Boston Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello looks to bounce back from his first loss of the season when he gets the ball Wednesday night in the second contest of a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Porcello (1-1, 7.56 ERA) surrendered eight earned runs on eight hits, including four homers, over 4 1/3 innings of a 10-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday.
In order for Porcello to turn it around against the Blue Jays, the veteran has to establish his sinker down in the zone, Red Sox manager John Farrell believes.
"That's the pitch that really allows everything else to work off of," Farrell said. "The other night, he certainly missed location. He had a tendency to overthrow his fastball at times, which can lead to some sacrifice of command and location.
"That was the case the other night. He just has to get back to that signature pitch, and that's that sinker in the bottom of the zone."
Boston (9-5) has won four straight and five of its past six.
Farrell will have some bullpen help for Wednesday's game.
With Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel unavailable Tuesday night, Farrell had to rely on Heath Hembree, who delivered two shutout innings. Fernando Abad and Matt Barnes also saw action in the 8-7 victory over the Blue Jays.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, away on paternity leave, could rejoin the club in Toronto.
"I've gotta call him right now," Farrell said of Rodriguez postgame. "Ideally we get some length (for Wednesday) given how much we've pushed the bullpen, and for something unforeseen (on Wednesday), we would still need that length so no decision has been made, but I've got to make that call.
"One way or another, we'll likely have a pitcher, yes. Don't know which one it'll be yet."
The Blue Jays' offense finally showed signs of life Tuesday night, manufacturing seven runs on 12 hits. It was the most offense Toronto had mustered since a 10-8 loss to the Rays on April 7.
Toronto (2-11) has lost back-to-back games after snapping a seven game losing streak against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons admitted his team needs to turn it around quickly.
"From our end, you're always concerned when you go through ruts," he said. "I know people don't want to hear it, but it's very, very early, but you can't dig too deep a hole, the division is too good, the American League is too good, too many good teams. We've got to turn it around quickly, that's for sure."
Francisco Liriano (0-1, 9.00 ERA) takes the mound for the Blue Jays. The veteran left-hander bounced back nicely from his first start of the season to surrender two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings while striking out 10 on Thursday, but he was saddled with a no-decision in a 2-1 Blue Jays loss to the Orioles.
Liriano is 2-3 with a 5.97 ERA in six career starts vs. Boston. Porcello's history against the Jays is just as mediocre: 7-7 with a 5.03 ERA in 17 games (16 starts).
