BOSTONâ??At the height of the rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, facing either American League powerhouse after they’d just played a hard-fought series against each other could be a blessing in disguise.
“There was a few times you’d play ’em right after they played each other,” manager John Gibbons reminisced Monday before his Blue Jays took on the AL East-leading Red Sox. “It was always a good time to play them because they were beat to death. Bullpens were beat to crap.”
Fenway Park hosted another duel between the old foes over the weekend, including a 16-inning marathon on Saturday before a Sunday doubleheader. Boston and New York split the series, but the real winners may have been the Blue Jays, who beat an overworked Red Sox team 4-3 in the opener of a four-game set.
Blue Jays left fielder Steve Pearce was the man of the hour, launching a solo homer over the Green Monster in the second inning for a 3-0 lead before cashing in Ezequiel Carrera with a decisive RBI single in the eighth, stopping the home team’s comeback in its tracks.
“He’s been playing really well lately,” said his manager. “We’ve been working on his swing for the past several weeks and to see things pay off like this is extremely encouraging. I’d say this has probably been the highlight of the week for us. I’m sure things will continue to look up.”
Steve Pearce couldn’t be reached for comment, but I’m sure he would say the same thing if we were able to get in touch with him. The gritty outfielder has been working hard since the offseason to improve his bat speed. The Blue Jays could certainly use some help in that area, as they’ve been struggling to score runs as of late.
In other news, the Jays are looking to move their way up the AL East rankings by continuing their winning ways against the Red Sox. This is a critical series as every game counts in the tight division. The Jays have had some playoff success as of late, but they will need to continue to hit the ball well and rack up wins if they hope to take the division crown. Now might be a good time to place a wager on the Jays at sites like www.casinocanada.
