Gimenez, Guerrero Jr Both Return for Blue Jays Kicking Off Road Trip at Fenway
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Road trips have not been kind to the Toronto Blue Jays up to this point in the season, but after a 4-5 record in their last home stand, they need this one to be different, and that starts Tuesday night at Fenway Park- another division battle.
One might guess that the Boston Red Sox would be significantly better on their home turf playing at an iconic venue like Fenway, but they would be quite mistaken, as the Red Sox are 10 games under .500 at home.
The Red Sox's struggles in Massachusetts give the Blue Jays a real opportunity to snap their two-game skid and start this stretch away from Rogers Centre strong, but it won't be easy.
6 IP, 11 Ks
— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2026
Dylan Cease generated 29 swing & misses tonight, the most by a pitcher in a game this season and tied for Cease's career high! pic.twitter.com/8RSL1nvCIQ
The Sox are placing left-handed Payton Tolle on the hill to start things off in the opener, and he has been excellent this season with a 2.70 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in nine starts. But he does give up a lot of hits, 16 combined in the last two starts, so if the Jays can get going early, they can get him out of the game.
Relief pitchers are definitely a strength for Boston, but with Toronto having a bunch of strong lefty bats, they won't produce much, if any, against Tolle. They need a righty to be on the mound.
Blue Jays Starters For Game 1
Boston might have Tolle taking the hill, but the Blue Jays are sending out their ace and strikeout machine, Dylan Cease. Cease is emerging as a way-too-early AL Cy Young candidate, and he is going to give them a chance to win Tuesday night.
After wasting a start from Kevin Gausman last Saturday, they cannot afford to drop this one and fall further behind in the playoff race. But with the lefty on the mind, the lineup is missing a lot of its power.
- DH George Springer
- 2B Ernie Clement
- 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- C Alejandro Kirk
- 3B Kazuma Okamoto
- RF Nathan Lukes
- LF Davis Schneider
- SS Andres Gimenez
- CF Myles Straw
It is somewhat disappointing not to see Charles McAdoo in there instead of Andres Gimenez, who is hitting .164 against left-handed pitchers this year. Then, there is Brandon Valenzuela, who is a switch-hitter and could have been the DH with Kirk in there behind the plate.
If Valenzuela was making the start at Springer's position, they could have moved him to the outfield in Nathan Lukes' spot, who has a .311 batting average, but is hitting .125 against lefties.
Counting on rookies is a difficult place to be in, but they had been coming through all year long, so this is an interesting move, but hopefully it works out for Toronto, or they will fall five games under .500.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.