(SportsNetwork.com) – Drew Hutchison goes after his third win of the season on
Tuesday when the Toronto Blue Jays resume a three-game set with the Boston Red
Sox at Fenway Park.
After a pair of shaky outings, Hutchison was terrific in beating Baltimore on
Thursday, as he allowed two runs and two hits in eight innings. He also struck
out seven without walking a batter and improved to 2-0, while lowering his ERA
to 5.48.
Hutchison had surrendered 11 earned runs in nine innings of his two previous
starts.
“Felt like I did a good job of being aggressive in the zone,” Hutchison said.
“Got a good tempo going and rhythm and the ball was coming out good. I was
able to pound my fastball early and get ahead of guys, and that was the
difference.”
In four starts versus the Red Sox Hutchison is 2-1 with a 4.64 ERA.
Boston, meanwhile, will hand the ball to righty Clay Buchholz, who has been
victimized by a lack of run support his last two times out. Buchholz struck
out 10 and allowed one run to Tampa Bay on Thursday, but did not factor in the
decision of his team’s 2-1 loss.
Buchholz had given up two runs in six innings in his previous start, but
absorbed the loss, as the Red Sox managed just one run in that one.
“Best I’ve felt all year,” said Buchholz, who is 1-2 on the year with a 4.84
ERA. “I felt that way warming up. Getting here today, I felt really good. My
mindset was to build off the last time out. I just about had all of my pitches
working the way I wanted to.”
Buchholz has faced the Blue Jays 24 times (23 starts) and is 11-8 against them
with a 3.20 ERA.
Boston drew first blood in this series on Monday, as Mookie Betts capped off a
terrific night with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift
the Red Sox to a 6-5 win.
The Blue Jays sent Miguel Castro (0-2) to the mound in the ninth with the
score tied. Xander Bogaerts and Ryan Hanigan hit consecutive one-out singles.
After the two runners moved up on a wild pitch, Bogaerts scored on Betts’ hit
up the middle.
“We’ve hit the ball hard in some situations, where we’ve made outs,” Betts
said. “I think we’ll turn the corner and today was a really good showing.”
Betts had three hits and Pablo Sandoval homered and knocked in three
runs before exiting with a neck injury for the Red Sox, who snapped a two-game
losing streak and won for only the second time in six tries.
It’s unclear whether or not Sandoval will play on Tuesday.
Boston starter Joe Kelly allowed five runs on five hits while striking out 10
and walking three over six innings. Alexi Ogando tossed two scoreless frames
and Koji Uehara (2-1) pitched a perfect ninth.
Devon Travis homered in the loss for the Blue Jays, who have dropped four in a
row.
“It’s tough,” said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. “It wasn’t a great lead for
this ballpark. We had a nice little lead. They just kept chipping away,
chipping away. They’re dangerous. They got us there at the end.”
Even with Monday’s loss, the Jays are 7-3 in their last 10 games at Fenway
Park.
