Blue Jays enter series at Fenway just two games up on the Red Sox for the third Wild Card spot

The Toronto Blue Jays haven’t beaten the Boston Red Sox yet this season. If that doesn’t change this weekend, they aren’t going to be in a playoff position come Monday.

After dropping three of four games to the Baltimore Orioles this week, the Blue Jays own a 60-50 record on the season. They occupy the third Wild Card spot in the American League, though the Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Seattle Mariners are right behind them in the standings.

The Red Sox are 57-51, two games back of Toronto with two games in hand. They’re 7-0 against the Blue Jays so far this year thanks to a four-game sweep in Boston in early May and a three-game sweep in Toronto on Canada Day weekend. Another sweep this weekend would result in Boston jumping Toronto in the standings.

The Blue Jays will send Alek Manoah to the mound to open the series on Friday. The big man’s one outing against the Red Sox came in that early May series in Boston and he allowed two earned runs on eight hits and one walk over five innings of work.

Going for Boston will be Canadian James Paxton. He’s had plenty of success against the Blue Jays in the past, highlighted by the no-hitter he threw in Toronto back in 2018. The lefty dominated the Blue Jays in his one outing against them earlier this season, as he tossed seven-and-two-thirds scoreless innings while striking out seven.

Toronto will start Jose Berrios and Chris Bassitt on Saturday and Sunday while the Red Sox haven’t yet named their other two starters.

Elsewhere in the American League playoff picture, the Yankees, who are two-and-a-half games behind the Blue Jays, will host the Houston Astros for a three-game series at Yankee Stadium this weekend. The Seattle Mariners moved into a tie with the Yankees in the standings following a huge win over the L.A. Angels on Thursday. Those two teams will play each other three more times this weekend.