• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Red Sox-Blue Jays Preview

Jul 18, 2009 - 10:39 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Boston (55-34) at Toronto (44-47), 1:07 p.m. EDT

The last time Toronto's Roy Halladay pitched, he was sharing the field with members of all 30 major league teams for the All-Star game. He could become a new teammate to one of those players very soon.

In the midst of all the trade rumors surrounding the Blue Jays' ace, Halladay seeks his first victory in six weeks Sunday when he takes the mound against the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox.

With Toronto (45-47) fading in the competitive East, general manager J.P. Ricciardi said he'll listen to trade offers for Halladay (10-3, 2.85 ERA), who is signed through 2010.

Halladay, who has a full no-trade clause, won the 2003 AL Cy Young Award and has more victories than any other major league pitcher since 2002 with 123. He has said he would like to pitch for a contender.

"It's tough. Obviously, I'm somewhere that I enjoy being and have spent my entire career. There's a lot, I think, that goes into it," the right-hander said Monday. "I think as a player, there's that will to win, that will to do it in October and basically that's what all of this has been about.

"I would like that chance. I'm not saying it won't be Toronto. You'd like to be three games up in first place and not have to deal with it."

Instead, the Blue Jays are 11 games back of Boston (55-35) following Saturday's 6-2 victory, just their fourth in 17 games.

Toronto led the AL with a 27-14 record May 18, but it's gone 18-33 since, leaving only Washington and Kansas City with worse records in that span.

Halladay hasn't done much to help the Blue Jays turn things around, going winless in four starts since throwing a seven-hitter against the Royals on June 7. In three starts since returning from the disabled list because of a mild groin strain, the six-time All-Star is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA.

Despite his recent struggles, Halladay was selected to start for the AL in Tuesday's All-Star game. He allowed three runs and four hits over two innings.

This will be Halladay's first start against the Red Sox this season after going 3-2 with a 2.56 ERA in five outings versus them in 2008. He is 4-1 with a 4.56 ERA in his last eight starts against Boston at Rogers Centre.

The Red Sox had a four-game winning streak end Saturday with just their second defeat in eight games. They had scored 26 times during the win streak but stranded seven runners and went 1 for 12 with men in scoring position.

"We needed a breakthrough at-bat and couldn't get it," manager Terry Francona said.

In the series finale, Francona gives the ball to Jon Lester (8-6, 3.87), who looks to pick up right where he left off before the All-Star break.

After going 3-5 with a 6.07 ERA in his first 10 outings, Lester has been outstanding lately. The left-hander is 5-1 with a 1.48 ERA and has struck out 69 in 54 2-3 innings over his last eight starts, yielding one earned run or fewer in six of those outings.

In his final start before the break July 10, Lester allowed four hits and struck out eight in eight innings of a 1-0 win over the Royals.

Lester has had little trouble beating the Blue Jays this season, giving up two runs while striking out 16 over 12 1-3 innings in winning both starts.