The Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays will meet for the second time this season at the Rogers Centre starting this Tuesday night in the first of a three-game AL East showdown. Game 1 is slated to get underway at 7:07 p.m. (ET), and it will be available on MLB Extra Innings.

Boston is currently sitting on top of the division at 18-7 after pulling off a four-game sweep against Houston this past weekend. It is now 7-3 in its last 10 games and riding a five-game winning streak into this series. The total has gone “over” in six of its last nine games.

The Blue Jays opened the regular season as the favorite to win the AL East, but so far they have been unable to live up to these lofty expectations with a 9-17 record in their first 26 games. To make matters worse, this past weekend Toronto was swept in a four-game series against the New York Yankees. The total has gone over in three of its last five games.

Red Sox at Blue Jays Betting Storylines

Boston has been able to quickly turn the page on a forgettable 2012 campaign behind a pitching staff that is ranked third in the American League with a team ERA of 3.39. It also helps that its bats are ringing off the hook again with a .272 batting average that is ranked second in the AL. The Red Sox have six players with at least 11 RBI so far, but the biggest bat belongs to Mike Napoli, who leads the team with 27. Overall, this lineup is posting an average of 5.12 runs a game.

To keep the winning streak alive, Boston will go with Jon Lester as its starter for Tuesday night. The left-hander is a perfect 4-0 on the year with a 2.27 ERA. Earlier this season, he pitched seven scoreless innings while holding the Blue Jays to five hits to pick up his second win of the year. Lifetime against this team he is 12-7 with an ERA of 3.67.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, it is easy to see why Toronto is off to such a poor start, with a team ERA of 4.46 to complement an anemic offense that is ranked second-to-last in the AL in hitting with a 2.29 team batting average. The Blue Jays are ranked 12th in scoring with an average of just 3.65 runs a game. Against the Yankees, they managed a combined 13 runs in the four losses.

Brandon Marrow will try and get this series off to a better start as Toronto’s starter for Game 1. The right-hander blew a 5-2 lead heading into the seventh inning in his last outing against Baltimore by allowing two of the first three batters he faced to get on base. Overall, Marrow has a 5.27 ERA in his first five starts and a WHIP of 1.54. Against Boston he is 1-3 with an 8.28 ERA.

Red Sox at Blue Jays MLB Betting Odds and Trends

Boston has been opened by BetOnline as a slight -107 road favorite on the money line with the Blue Jays listed as +103 home underdogs. The “over/under” for this game has been set at 7.5.

The Red Sox are 8-0 in the first game of their last eight series and 7-3 in Lester’s last 10 starts on the road. The total has gone over in their last seven road games against a right-handed starter.

The Blue Jays are 5-2 in Marrow’s last seven starts against the AL East but just 1-6 in his last seven starts in Game 1 of a new series. The total has stayed under in five of their last seven games at home.

Head-to-head in this matchup, the road team in 8-2 in the last 10 meetings. The total has gone over in five of Lester’s last seven road starts against Toronto and in six of Marrow’s last seven starts overall against the Red Sox. Boston already won two of three games at the Rogers Centre this season, with the total going over in two of the contests.

Red Sox at Blue Jays Picks and Betting Predictions

While there are strong trends to suggest that these two will score enough runs to take the total “over” the 7.5-run line in this game, the best play remains with Boston to stay hot and extend its current winning streak to six with a victory on Tuesday night.

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Read more articles by Dave Schwab