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Red Sox face off against familiar foe in Halladay

Sep 14, 2008 - 7:25 AM TORONTO (80-69) AT BOSTON (87-61), 1:35pm EDT

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox' quest to win their second straight American League East title has started to stumble, but they hung on with another dramatic victory on Saturday in the nightcap of a day-night doubleheader.

On Sunday, the Red Sox will try to continue their climb back toward the top against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Red Sox pulled to within a half-game of the division-leading Rays (88-58), before dropping the final two games of a three-game series between the teams earlier in the week as the Rays gained back a little breathing room.

Things looked even shakier for Boston on Saturday after it dropped the first game against Toronto, and Tampa Bay came out on top in the opener of a twinbill with the New York Yankees.

But the Red Sox rebounded with a three-run, eighth inning to rally for a 7-5 victory and, coupled with the Rays' loss to the Yankees in Game Two, the Red Sox are back to within two games. And now they get to face Roy Halladay.

The Jays' 6-6 ace has more experience against the Red Sox than any other team he has faced during his 11-year career. Thirty-five appearances, 32 starts and 227 1/3 innings' worth, to be exact. The results, however, have been mixed. He has managed a pedestrian 11-11 mark with a 4.51 ERA.

This year, Halladay (18-10, 2.77 ERA) has been able to handle Boston well enough. His only loss in three decisions was an April 29 meeting in which he gave up jone run in 8 2/3 innings and took a tough 1-0 loss. He answered the next time he saw the Red Sox, tossing a complete game victory on August 16 at Fenway Park, giving up one run and seven hits.

His foe will be Boston lefthander Jon Lester (14-5, 3.23), whose last outing against the Blue Jays was a memory he'd like to forget. He lasted 2 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs and eight hits as the Jays cruised to an 11-1 triumph. Since then, however, Lester has allowed two total runs over his last three starts, striking out 22 hitters in 19 1/3 innings over that span.