The set-up: There can be no doubt that Boston misses David Ortiz but after a less-than-impressive start to the 2017 season (Red Sox were just 21-21 through May 20), Boston has gone 24-14 and caught the slumping Yankees in the AL East. The Red Sox aren't hitting at the same rate they were with David Ortiz in the middle of the lineup last season but they are developing new strengths. Boston's bullpen ERA of 2.88 is the second-best in all of MLB and that unit gave them five scoreless innings to close out Friday's series opener with Toronto, 7-4 in 11 innings. Closer Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect 11th inning on Friday to increase his AL-leading save total to 23. Toronto, a team which has played in the last two ALCS matchups, struggled out of the gate by going 7-18 in April but got things turned around although it has never been able to reach .500. The Blue Jays have gotten to within one game of that mark often but keep falling back. Recently, the team has lost six of eight to fall five games under .500 (37-42) and into the AL East basement, 7 1/2 games back of Boston.

The pitching matchup: Chris Sale (10-3 & 2.77 ERA) gets the start for Boston and Francisco Liriano (4-3 & 5.46 ERA) for Toronto. Sale has come through big time for the Red Sox in 2017. He leads the majors with 155 strikeouts and fanned nine over 6 1/3 innings against Minnesota in a 4-1 win on Monday. He also tops the AL with a total of 113 2/3 innings pitched, owns an 0.91 WHIP and has held opponents to a BA of .200. Boston is 12-4 in his 16 starts in 2017. Sale enjoyed one of his best starts of the season at Toronto back on April 20, when he struck out a season-high 13 and scattered four hits over eight scoreless innings, giving him a 4-1 (1.72 ERA) career mark against the Jays in six starts (teams are 5-1). Liriano snapped a three-start win-less streak at Kansas City last Sunday, allowing two runs on six hits in six innings of an 8-7 win. Liriano owns a poor 1.61 WHIP to go along with a high ERA (5.46) but somehow, Toronto has gone 8-4 in his starts. However, he had his only scoreless outing of the 2017 season against Boston back on April 19, when he struck out six and yielded four hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 3-0 win.

The pick: Sale's been everything Boston had hoped he'd be when signing him in the off-season and I expect another strong effort from him here plus if needed, he'll have Boston's excellent bullpen in reserve. Toronto's lineup is not the feared bunch of the last two seasons, averaging only 4.22 RPG (25th) with a team BA of .244, which ranks 24th. Also, Boston's lineup ranks just 15th in runs scored at 4.71 per game. Make the Under an 8* play.