De La Rosa Looks to Rebound From Worst Start of Big League Career

The Red Sox got throttled on Monday by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game of this three-game set; now they will have to push aside all of the trade rumors circulating the team if they want to send this series to a rubber game on Wednesday.

The biggest news is swirling around starter Jon Lester, who is scheduled to pitch Wednesday against the Blue Jays, but could be dealt before he takes the mound, in which case John Farrell has stated that Brandon Workman would get the start.

For Tuesday, however, the ball will go to Rubby De La Rosa, who is looking for his fourth win in his ninth start of the year for the Red Sox, going 3-3 with a 3.54 ERA in his previous eight. He’s coming off the worst start of his career, giving up seven runs, six of them earned, on nine hits with two walks and one strikeout over four innings to the Blue Jays last Thursday.

His last start was his first career start against the Blue Jays, but was his third appearance overall. Seven different Toronto batters have hits against De La Rosa, with Dioner Navarro and Juan Francisco getting two each, while Francisco’s were a triple and a home run.

Rookie righthander Marcus Stroman gets the start for the Blue Jays on Tuesday, holding a 6-2 record with a 3.21 ERA in 15 games this season – 10 of them starts. He nearly no-hit the Red Sox in his last start, holding a no-no going into the seventh innings before Shane Victorino broke it up with a leadoff single.

July 24 was the first time that Stroman had faced the Red Sox. Victorino’s hit was the only one he gave up in the game, while he and Jackie Bradley Jr. also reached base on walks.