Boston Red Sox vs Toronto Blue Jays: Starting Lineup - Opening Game Preview

In a stunning move the Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora, and five members of his coaching staff on Saturday night amidst a rough start to the season..

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was asked by reporters for his thoughts on the shocking firing of Cora.

Despite that chaos, though, the Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 17-1 on Sunday.

Boston has gone 6-9 in road games and 11-17 overall. The Red Sox are 2-4 in games decided by one run.

Where as Toronto has a 12-15 record overall and an 8-7 record at home. The Blue Jays are 8-2 in games when they scored five or more runs.

Blue Jays strikeout artist Dylan Cease will be on the bump versus Red Sox left-hander Ranger Suarez.

First Pitch is at 7:07 PM ET on SN1, NESN, and on Sportsnet 590 The Fan radio.

In his last outing Dylan Cease (1-0) earned the win over the Angels, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out 12 batters over five innings.
Analysis

Cease needed 110 pitches to get through five frames, but that's largely because Angels hitters had a hard time putting his pitches in play.

Of the 15 outs the right-hander recorded, 12 came via punchouts, and Cease racked up a whopping 18 total whiffs.

The big performance helped Cease earn his first win as a Blue Jay, though he's pitched well enough this season to deserve more.

Through five starts, Cease has posted a 2.10 ERA and 1.29 WHIP across 25.2 frames.

He also leads MLB with 44 punchouts and has yet to serve up a home run.

The Bosox will couter with big lefty Rangers Suarez. In his last outing Suarez (1-2) took the loss against the Yankees, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out four.

The Yankees ambushed Suarez for three runs in the opening frame, but the hurler was at least able to settle in and hold New York to just one run over his next 3.2 innings of work.

Suarez has been a boom-or-bust fantasy play so far, tossing at least six scoreless innings in two starts while giving up four runs in fewer than five frames in his other three outings.

The southpaw will be searching for some consistency tonight in Toronto, where he'll carry a 4.00 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 19:8 K:BB through 27 frames.

Last 10 games: Blue Jays: 5-5, .276 batting average, 4.19 ERA, outscored opponents by one run.

Red Sox: 4-6, .222 batting average, 4.10 ERA, outscored by two runs.

Blue Jays: George Springer: (fractured left toe 10-Day IL), Nathan Lukes: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Yimi Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Addison Barger: 10-Day IL (ankle), Cody Ponce: 60-Day IL (knee), Anthony Santander: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Trey Yesavage: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Alejandro Kirk: 10-Day IL (hand), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jose Berrios: 15-Day IL (elbow), Lazaro Estrada: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Bowden Francis: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Red Sox: Patrick Sandoval: 15-Day IL (elbow), Kutter Crawford: 15-Day IL (wrist), Justin Slaten: 15-Day IL (oblique), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Sonny Gray: 15-Day IL (leg), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow), Romy Gonzalez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Also read on Blue Jays Central :
Latest injury update on Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer