BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) _ Rowdy Tellez drove in four runs, and the Blue Jays bullpen provided Toronto's injury depleted group of starters a much needed rest. And yet overshadowing Toronto's 9-1 route of the Boston Red Sox were questions of whether both teams should have played as opposed to sitting out and joining other teams across several sports to protest this past weekend's shooting by police of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wisconsin. Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo didn't rule out the possibility of not playing the third and final game of their series against Boston on Thursday. Mitch Moreland homered for the Red Sox (10-21) and starter Colton Brewer (0-2) got the loss.
BOTTOM LINE:
Xander Bogaerts and the Red Sox will take on the Blue Jays Thursday.
The Blue Jays are 9-9 against the rest of their division. The Toronto offense has compiled a .252 batting average as a team this season, good for ninth in the American League. Randal Grichuk leads the team with a mark of .307.
The Red Sox are 7-18 against the rest of their division. The Boston offense has compiled a .251 batting average as a team this season, good for tenth in the American League. Alex Verdugo leads the team with an average of .291.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Teoscar Hernandez leads the Blue Jays with 32 hits and has 19 RBIs.
Verdugo leads the Red Sox with 30 hits and has 12 RBIs.
INJURIES:
Blue Jays: Trent Thornton: (right elbow), Matt Shoemaker: (right shoulder), Nate Pearson: (elbow), Ken Giles: (right elbow), Yennsy Diaz: (lat), Bo Bichette: (knee).
Red Sox: Chris Sale: (elbow), Eduardo Rodriguez: (heart), Nathan Eovaldi: (calf), Andrew Benintendi: (rib), Dustin Pedroia: (knee).
