The Red Sox (64-56) pursuit of the Yankees and the Rays in the AL East and even a playoff spot has been slowed this week by the Blue Jays (59-63). Toronto has taken the first three games of their series and will go for a sweep this afternoon at Rogers Centre. Losers of five straight, the Sox sit ten games out of first in the AL East. Despite the streak, they remain 4.5 up in the Wild Card chase. Counted out long ago by most, the Jays have won seven of their last ten and sit just 1.5 games behind the Rangers and the final Wild Card spot.
For much of last night’s game, Boston and Toronto were locked in a tight pitchers' duel between Ranger Suárez and José Soriano. Toronto grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Ernie Clement delivered an RBI single, but Boston answered in the fifth on Willson Contreras' 24th home run of the season. The game remained tied until the bottom of the eighth, when Toronto erupted. After Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk opened the inning with singles, a dropped foul popup by Contreras extended an at-bat for Kazuma Okamoto, who immediately made Boston pay with a go-ahead RBI single. The Blue Jays kept the pressure on, drawing a bases-loaded walk from Clement, getting a sacrifice fly from George Springer, and a two-run double from Myles Straw as Toronto scored five times in the inning to take a commanding 6-1 lead.
Boston mounted a rally in the ninth. Caleb Durbin singled home a run, Jarren Duran followed with an RBI double, and Andruw Monasterio added a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 6-4. However, Blue Jays closer Louis Varland recorded the final two outs to secure his 26th save. Soriano allowed just one run on four hits over six strong innings in his second start for Toronto since being acquired from the Angels. Suárez was solid as well, also surrendering just a single run across five innings before the bullpen collapse.
One of Boston's most exciting young arms, Payton Tolle (7-6, 3.20 ERA) takes the ball for the Red Sox this afternoon. In his most recent start against the Athletics on August 7, Tolle delivered the best outing of his young career. He threw six innings of two-hit ball, allowed just one run, walked nobody, and struck out a career-high 14 batters in a dominant 13-1 Boston victory. The performance represented the highest strikeout total by a Red Sox pitcher age 23 or younger since Roger Clemens.
The future Hall of Famer, Max Scherzer (1-4, 7.25 ERA), gets the nod for Toronto today. Scherzer has been better than good in three starts since returning from the injured list. The veteran has allowed four runs over 14 innings while striking out 13. His most recent start came on August 8 against the Phillies. Scherzer worked 5.1 innings, allowed two runs on five hits, walked four, and struck out four in a game that also saw him move into tenth place on MLB's all-time strikeout list.
Lets dive further into tonight’s game and find a sweat or two.
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Game Details and How to Watch: Red Sox vs. Blue Jays
Date: Thursday, August 13, 2026 Time: 3:07PM EST Site: Rogers Centre City: Toronto, ONT Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, NESN, Sportsnet
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The Latest Odds: Red Sox vs. Blue Jays
The latest odds as of Thursday courtesy of DraftKings:
Moneyline: Boston Red Sox (-153), Toronto Blue Jays (+142) Spread: Red Sox -1.5 (+105), Blue Jays +1.5 (-127) Total: 8.0 runs
Probable Starting Pitchers – Red Sox vs. Blue Jays for August 13
Red Sox: Payton Tolle Season Totals: 107.0 IP, 7-6, 3.20 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 124K, 29 BB Blue Jays: Max Scherzer Season Totals: 36.0 IP, 1-4, 7.25 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 27K, 15 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Red Sox vs. Blue Jays
Masataka Yoshida is 4-6 including 1 HR in his career against Max Scherzer Willson Contreras has struck out 6 times in 15 ABs against Scherzer Andres Gimenez is 3-4 including 1 HR vs. Payton Tolle in his career Adley Rutschman is 1-6 since being activated by the Sox Kazuma Okamoto did not strike out yesterday marking the first time since July 29 (11 games) that he failed to do so in a game Vlad Guerrero Jr. has hit safely in 5 straight games (7-22)
Top Betting Trends & Insights: Red Sox vs. Blue Jays
The Blue Jays are 58-64 on the Run Line this season The Red Sox are 58-62 on the Run Line this season The OVER has cashed 61 times in Toronto’s 122 games this season (61-57-4) The OVER has cashed 54 times in Boston’s 120 games this season (54-62-4)
Expert picks & predictions: Red Sox vs. Blue Jays for August 13
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager. Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s game between the Blue Jays and the Red Sox:
Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline. Spread: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Red Sox on the Run Line. Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total OVER 8
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