Toronto Blue Jays vs. Boston Red Sox Prediction:
The Boston Red Sox are on the outside looking in on the American League Playoff picture. They look to Thursday’s series finale at home against the Toronto Blue Jays to build momentum.
Kutter Crawford gets the pitching start for the Red Sox, who has seen his ERA balloon to 4.17 with 1.7 home runs per nine innings after a solid start to the season.
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Crawford had a 3.00 ERA entering the All-Star Break and has allowed at least three runs in six of his seven runs since, posting an 8.13 ERA with 14 home runs in 34 1/3 innings in that span.
Backing up Crawford is a bullpen that entered Wednesday with a 6.09 ERA since July 1, which ranks 29th in the league in that span, The lineup’s more than 5.5 runs per game since the All-Star Break is the third-most in the league.
After taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his last start, pitcher Bowden Francis will try to put forth a worthy encore performance. This season, he has a 4.02 ERA and a 4.49 fielding independent with a 1.6 home runs per nine innings allowed.
Behind Francis is a bullpen that is 28th in ERA this season, entering Wednesday with a 4.82 ERA. The Red Sox offense has erupted for nearly 4.7 runs per game since the All-Star Break.
With Francis allowing 1.9 home runs per nine innings on the road this season and both offenses outperforming their respective pitching staffs since the All-Star Break, Thursday sets up to be a slugfest in Boston.
MLB Pick: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Boston Red Sox Over 9 Runs
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