Craig Kimbrel, Mitch Moreland, and Rafael Devers celebrate after defeating the Yankees 5-4 Thursday night. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Hanley Ramirez's Red Sox are just 9-9 since racing out to a 17-2 start and, thanks to the Yankees' run of 17 wins in 19 games, Boston and New York are tied for first in the majors at 26-and-11.
But Ramirez believes his Sox will heat up again after avoiding a sweep in the Bronx.
"It's not gonna be like this all year, we're gonna take off," he said. "We're gonna keep winning games, like we've been doing. It's a long season."
Hopefully that starts tonight when they open a three-game set in Toronto against a Blue Jays squad that's dropped five of seven.
Jackie Bradley Jr. Slumping Badly For Red Sox
Jackie Bradley Junior didn't exactly get off to a blistering start to the season. Through 17 games, he was batting .233 with a .733 OPS.
Making matters worse for the Jays, they'll have to deal with Chris Sale. He's only allowed two earned runs and struck out 18 over his last two starts.
Sale's made eight lifetime appearances at the Rogers Center--seven starts--and the ace has a slim 1.36 ERA. That includes a win April 26th.
Aaron Sanchez has a 4-14 mark through seven starts this year and he's had trouble with his control, but the righty has a 3-67 career ERA against the Sox over 16 meetings. Half of those were starts.
First pitch, 7:07 p.m. Boston took two of three from Toronto north of the border last month.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman reports