The Red Sox dropped a game on the Fourth of July to bring their season record to 49-35 on the year. The 9-7 loss was in part due to Sox pitcher John Lackey’s struggles against the Jays lineup. The Jays scored early and continued scoring throughout. Although Boston brought a lot of offense to the game, they would prove not to be enough.

The Red Sox, in all, got 11 hits and 7 runs against the Blue Jays. They were able to pick up two big innings in the bottom of the 5^thand 8^thinning. In the end though, the Blue Jays had just enough from their pitching staff to close out the game. Sox Pitcher John Lackey started shaky giving up a run in the first inning and two more in the second. Toronto then added 4 more in the top of the third to take an early 7-0 lead through 3.

The Blue Jays improved to 42-44 on the year with the win. They gathered 13 hits in all for the game. One of the hits was an Aaron Hill homerun, his 4^thof the season. Pitcher Brandon Morrow was credited with his 5^thvictory of the year while Frank Francisco came on to close the game out and collect his 10^thsave of the season.

The two teams meet again July 5^that 7:10 PM ET in Boston. Boston will send 10-win pitcher Jon Lester to the mound with his 3.43 ERA. Toronto will have Brett Cecil start. Cecil has just one won this season and holds an awful 7.24 ERA. Boston is desperately trying to keep pace in a close and competitive division. Toronto will continue to attempt to scratch and claw their way to a 500 record, which could prove difficult with the struggling Cecil on the mound