FENWAY – (Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox have won 16 of their last 18 games and will get two-time All-Star southpaw Ranger Suarez back from the injured list to face the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.
Boston, which had a 15-game winning streak broken by the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, will try to win the three-game series against Toronto after being one-hit by All-Star right-hander Dylan Cease on Saturday in a 6-0 Blue Jays win.
Suarez (4-3, 3.15 ERA) has not pitched since he strained his groin July 5, the day he found out he was named to his second All-Star team.
The 30-year-old was scheduled to return last week, but his comeback was delayed because he was ill.
The Red Sox also were without left-hander Connelly Early the past few rotation turns but went 16-3 without Suarez and him.
Early, on the injured list since July 1 with elbow inflammation, was traded to the Washington Nationals for infielder Curtis Mead on Saturday night.
Early is 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 17 games (all starts) covering 91 2/3 innings this season, while Mead is batting .254 with 17 homers and 48 RBIs in 87 games.
“If you scripted that out before any of this happened and said, ‘This is going to happen — Suarez’s going to go down; Early’s going to go down — you’d be like, ‘That’s going to be the end of that (streak),’ ” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told MLB.com on Saturday before the trade was made. “But we’ve had guys that have stepped up. (Payton) Tolle’s been great all year. Jake Bennett came in and did great.”
Activating Suarez to pitch Sunday will allow rookie lefty Tolle to pitch Monday when the Red Sox open a series in West Sacramento, Calif., against the Athletics.
“When we talked about it (the rotation) … it’s like, first of all, if we can get Ranger the days he needs, but also sliding him behind (Patrick Sandoval) and (Sonny) Gray, not disrupting him,” Tracy said. “You get the other two guys (Tolle and Bennett) a little bit extra break, which is good for them, too.”
Suarez is 57-40 with a 3.35 ERA in 204 games, including 136 starts. He is 2-0 with an 0.00 ERA in three appearances (two starts) against the Blue Jays in his career. Suarez has thrown 17 1/3 innings against Toronto and has allowed only one unearned run while striking out 17.
The Blue Jays will counter with Kevin Gausman (4-9, 4.51 ERA). They have lost seven straight games he has started, with the last win coming June 7 against the Orioles.
The right-hander has not recorded a win since beating the Pirates 6-2 on May 22. The 35-year-old is 116-122 with a 3.85 ERA in 382 career games (343 starts) and is 9-11 with a 4.25 ERA in 33 games against the Red Sox, including 28 starts.
The Red Sox are just glad they won’t see Cease for a while.
Andruw Monasterio managed the only hit for the Red Sox on Saturday, a double to lead off the sixth.
The All-Star Game starter, Cease was averaging 93 mph on his fastball early in the game, and struck out Wilyer Abreu with a 99 mph to end the ninth.
“It was a great pitch, no regrets,” Cease said of his pitch to Monasterio. “My body was a little cranky early, but it woke up as the game went on. At the end, you don’t want to let it go. I emptied the tank.”
Cease also acknowledged that Fenway Park is his favorite place to play. He is 2-0 with an 0.88 ERA there and has held hitters to a .194 batting average.
“When I play Nintendo 64, it is always here,” Cease said.
He isn’t the only Blue Jays player who loves Fenway.
George Springer, who hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run third inning Saturday, is a .320 hitter with 41 RBIs and 10 home runs in 50 career games in Boston.