Red Sox Need a Reset: Boston's Road Woes Meet a Blue Jays Team That Owns the Season Series

There's no sugarcoating it: The Boston Red Sox are in a rough patch away from Fenway, and the Toronto Blue Jays are the last team they probably want to see right now.

Boston (64-56, third in the AL East) hits the road Thursday looking to snap a three-game slide away from home. Standing in their way? A Blue Jays club that has owned this season series, holding a commanding 9-3 edge through 12 meetings.

Pitching matchup: Youth vs. Living Legend

Payton Tolle gets the ball for the Red Sox, bringing a solid 7-6 record, 3.20 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with 124 strikeouts. He'll be opposed by Max Scherzer, who has struggled this season with a 1-4 mark and a 7.25 ERA.

If you like runs, this could be interesting — the over/under is set at 8, with Boston listed as a -159 favorite.

What to watch

The Blue Jays are 20-12 when going deep at least twice, and they've been trending up lately — winners in seven of their last 10. Kazuma Okamoto leads the charge with 24 homers and 71 RBI, while Alejandro Kirk has been locked in, going 12-for-34 with a home run over his last 10 games.

On the Boston side, Wilyer Abreu has been the steady presence with 24 doubles, three triples and 21 homers while batting .254. Jarren Duran has caught fire recently, going 9-for-38 with three doubles and three homers in the last 10 games.

The Red Sox have outscored opponents by 23 runs over their last 10 games and still went just 5-5. That's brutal. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, are 7-3 and have outscored teams by four runs over the same stretch.

Bottom line

Boston's road record is solid — 35-25 away from home — and they're 23-9 when hitting at least two homers. But none of that matters if they can't beat a Toronto club that's clearly had their number this season.

First pitch is set for 3:07 p.m. EDT Thursday in Toronto. Something's gotta give.