9/18 Game Thread: Red Sox at Blue Jays

Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays
Time: 7:05 ET on Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Toronto, Ontario

A.J. Burnett: 8-7 with a 3.42 ERA, 152/58 K/BB

vs

Jon Lester: 4-0 with a 4.86 ERA, 34/24 K/BB

I won't be around for the game tonight, as I'm going to the Mets-Nationals showdown, so another early thread.

The Jays look to take a series from the BoSox before heading out on the road for 6 games against the Yankees and Orioles.  A.J. Burnett looks to continue his fantastic season, while southpaw Jon Lester pitches for Boston.

Let's go Jays!

See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me, Heal Me: Injury Update
In other news, Lyle Overbay will be shut down after this series for the season.  Lyle will have four screws removed from his hand.  The screws were placed in his hand when he was hit by a pitch by John Danks of the Chicago White Sox. For Lyle, it has been an incredibly frustrating season that saw him slump out of the gate and get hurt right when he was starting to pick it up.  Since the surgery, he hasn't been the same, with his hand apparently constantly bothering him.  Before this season he was an extremely consistent and reliable performer, so let's hope he will be back ripping doubles around the Centre next season!

From the same article, Troy Glaus' surgery was apparently successful, which is good news. The nerve in Troy's foot, which was causing him more or less constant pain, was decompressed.

Scott Downs is also laid up with what appears to be gout in his right foot.  Gout is a form of arthritis that flares up suddenly and painfully, and is normally confined to David Wells and Victorian-era English gentlemen.  On the other hand, Downs has already made 74 appearances this season, so perhaps it is not the worst news.  He's had by far his most successful season, striking out a man an inning, shutting down lefties, and also pitching effectively against righthanders.

Finally, B.J. Ryan has resumed throwing (albeit from 45 feet) and expects to pitch in front of Blue Jay brass this week.  B.J., who underwent Tommy John surgery in May, has been playing catch for 3 weeks and appears to be on schedule for a Spring Training return, although the larger priority is to get him healthy for early next season.