Beckett has generally struggled against the Blue Jays, going 3-5 with a 6.44 ERA while serving up 15 homers in 11 starts. He’s been even worse in his last three outings versus Toronto, posting an 0-2 record and a 14.59 ERA.

The Red Sox swept the Blue Jays at Fenway from May 19-21 to run their home winning streak against Toronto to five games. They’ve also taken five of nine road contests in the season series.

The Jays have struggled against East foes, going 17-34 to rank better only than Washington’s 13-34 mark within the NL East for baseball’s worst divisional record.

Scott Richmond will take the mound for the Jays, trying to end a personal three-game slide.

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Friday in the opener of the series the first-place BoSox will look to continue where they left off before the break and the Blue Jays will try to play spoiler.

The Red Sox, who are averaging 5.3 runs per game this season, will start the second half of the season against Ricky Romero. The lefthander has been a bright spot for the Jays, posting a 7-3 record, including four wins in his last five starts.

Earlier this season he lost to the Red Sox, giving up five runs in four innings pitched.

The Red Sox’s scheduled starter for Friday is Clay Buchholz.

This will be Buchholz’s first start this season and in his career he is 0-2 against the Blue Jays.

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The Rays hope to get things turned around at home, where they’ve won five straight and 10 of 11. Tampa Bay, which went 7-2 against Toronto at Tropicana Field last season, hasn’t won six in a row at home since June 30-July 6, 2008.

Rays starter James Shields has been tough on opponents at home, but hasn’t had much luck against the Blue Jays lately.

The righthander went 0-3 with a 4.30 ERA in his last four starts against the Blue Jays after going 4-0 with a 2.41 ERA in his first five outings.

The Blue Jays counter with Marc Rzepczynski, who is set to make his major league debut in place of Brad Mills, who has bruised ribs.

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With his play over the weekend, Jeter helped New York continue its win streak against Toronto. He had four hits Sunday and delivered a go-ahead two-run homer in the Yankees’ 10-8 victory.

Romero posted an 0.82 ERA in winning his last three starts and has not allowed a run in his last 20 innings. The lefthander gave up four hits over eight innings against Tampa Bay as Toronto won 5-0 on Wednesday.

New York will counter with Andy Pettitte, who has gone 2-0 with a 3.06 ERA in his last three starts, striking out 16 in 17 2-3 innings. Pettitte is 18-11 with a 4.14 ERA in 36 starts versus the Blue Jays.

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New York took two of three May 12-14 from Toronto, which opens a 10-game road trip against AL East foes and is looking forward to its first visit to the Yankees' new hitter-friendly stadium in the Bronx.

The Yankees' A.J. Burnett will face his former team for the second time this year.

He made his return to Toronto May 12 and was booed repeatedly as he gave up five runs over 7 2-3 innings in a 5-1 loss.

Toronto starter Brian Tallet has pitched very well in his last five outings on the road, going 2-2 with a 1.74 ERA. He last pitched Sunday at home against Philadelphia and gave up five runs over six innings in a 5-4 loss.

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The -130 favored Rays have won 21 of 29 to move a season-best nine games over .500 and are now four games behind East-leading Boston. The seven-game streak matches the second-longest in franchise history.

Toronto has been held to six runs during a four-game losing streak and has dropped 24 of its last 38 contests.

James Shields looks to continue his run of solid outings for Tampa Bay. Shields is 3-1 with a 3.05 ERA in his past six starts, five coming at home.

He has lost his last two decisions to the Blue Jays but is 4-2 with a 3.07 ERA in eight starts against them.

Rookie Ricky Romero counters for Toronto.

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Cueto, who's never faced Toronto, may find his luck better on the road. He's 5-2 with a 1.53 ERA away from Great American Ball Park, and he's limited opponents to a .186 average.

Cincinnati will need to find a way to slow down the streaking Blue Jays' offense. Toronto has averaged 7.8 runs during its six wins over the past eight games.

Brett Cecil will get the ball for the Blue Jays in the finale, and he'll be looking to build on a solid start from over the weekend, his first in the majors in a month.

Cecil looked good Saturday at Washington filling in for the injured Roy Halladay, yielding three runs over seven innings.

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The Blue Jays were an AL-best 27-14 through May 18, but a nine-game losing streak that began the next day paved the way for a 7-17 record since, which is the AL's worst.

Poor pitching has been the Jays' biggest issue. Toronto has a major league-worst 5.10 ERA since May 19, and it's allowed 31 homers in 24 games.

Keeping the Phillies, who have hit an NL-high 90 home runs, off the scoreboard won't be easy, particularly in homer-happy Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies will get their first look at Ricky Romero, while Cole Hamels will be making his first career start against the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays snapped their road skid with a 6-3 victory in the opener of this series Monday, then routed the Rangers 9-0 on Tuesday night.

While the +143 underdog Blue Jays appear to be getting back on track, the Rangers have dropped six of nine.
Texas could use another strong outing from Kevin Millwood, although he is only 1-4 with a 6.25 ERA in eight career starts against Toronto.

The Blue Jays will hand the ball to Ricky Romero, who is making his first appearance against the Rangers.

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Halladay is 7-5 with a 4.35 ERA in 15 career outings against the Angels, against whom he is looking to win a third straight start.

The -170 favored Blue Jays had their six-game home winning streak snapped Sunday with an 8-2 loss to Boston. Major league hits leader Aaron Hill saw his 13-game hitting streak come to an end after he went 0 for 3 with a walk.

Toronto has split 18 games against lefthanded starters, and will face another southpaw in Joe Saunders. Saunders is 1-2 with a 3.62 ERA in four career starts versus the Blue Jays.