The Doc Stumps the Sox, 6-3

Jon Lester never throws well against Toronto, especially away from Fenway Park. Lester struggled through the first two innings of the game, giving up 5 runs, which was enough for Roy Halladay to bring home the victory for the Jays. While Lester settled down nicely after the rough start (ultimately going 7 innings), he put the Sox in quite a hole by giving Halladay a 5 spot to work with. Halladay himself did not have his best stuff, and when Jason Bay (who was celebrating his 30th birthday) hit a tater in the 3rd to cut the score to 5-3, I thought we had a good chance to steal a victory. Doc and the Jays bullpen however quieted the Red Sox bats for the remainder of the game as Halladay went 6 innings (by far his shortest outing of the season against Boston). He recorded his 200th strike out of the season for the second time in his great career while moving to 19-11 with the win (Lester falls to 15-6 with the loss).

Marco "red sox killer" Scutaro continues to play well against the Red Sox....(does he play well against anyone else though???). I was pretty sure Scott Rolen was living in a van down by the river, but it turns out he still plays for the Jays and took Masterson deep in the 8th for an insurance run. The loss means the Red Sox magic number to clinch the wild card remains at 2, but they will be scoreboard watching as the Rays take on the Twins this evening. I did hear an ESPN highlight that said (in all seriousness) "Toronto's win pulls them within 7.5 of the Red Sox for the wild card"...dude...the Jays have 7 games left, the Red Sox 8...give me a break. The playoffs are in sight, we just need to get healthy and ready for the Angels.

ITM Notes:

-JD Drew had his back stiffen up on him last night while swinging....he will be reevaluated in Boston on Monday. It's time realize Mark Kotsay will be our starting right fielder in the playoffs.

-Jason Bay is a 30, 100 guy this year after today's performance (.288, 31, 100)...I don't care what Manny is doing out there in make believe land, that's pretty impressive (especially when you consider how "down" power numbers are this year league wide).

-Halladay has thrown a major league leading 237 innings this year...guy is a horse year in and year out, he needs to come to a real baseball town.

-Somehow, Jacoby Ellsbury has a 11 game hitting streak.