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Red Sox go for two straight with Matsuzaka

Apr 30, 2008 - 2:30 PM Toronto (11-16) at Boston (16-12) 7:05 pm EDT

BOSTON (Ticker) - Fresh off a five game losing streak, the Boston Red Sox will attempt to put two wins together when they host the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.

The Red Sox dropped their final two against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last week and then got swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game series over the weekend. It was the first time in the Rays' history that they had swept a series of three games or more from Boston.

But the Red Sox scraped out a win Tuesday, 1-0, in the opener against the Blue Jays. Jon Lester and Roy Halladay matched scoreless frames for the first eight innings until Kevin Youkilis drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the ninth.

The offense has been a problem for Boston, totaling two runs in the past three games. David Ortiz continues to struggle, batting just .172, Dustin Pedroia is 1-for-12 in his last three games and J.D. Drew is 4-for-31 over the past 10 contests.

The Red Sox got Mike Lowell back off the disabled list on Tuesday, but Drew left the game in the fourth with a quad injury and Jacoby Ellsbury sat out with a groin injury.

Toronto's offense might be an even bigger concern, as the club has dropped seven of its last eight games and 10 of 13 while averaging just three runs per game.

The Blue Jays will try to get the offense started against Daisuke Matsuzaka (4-0, 3.14 ERA), who will be making his first start in 12 days after coming down with the flu last week. The Japanese righthander was leading the AL in strikeouts before being shut down and has earned the win in each of his last four outings despite not yet being able to make it through seven innings.

He went 3-1 with a 5.18 ERA against Toronto last season.

The Jays will counter with righthander Dustin McGowan (1-2, 4.18). The 26-year-old is coming off his worst start of the season last Thursday when he allowed five runs - four earned - and walked seven in four innings to suffer a loss at Tampa Bay.