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The Boston Red Sox will spend Memorial Day in Canada as the American League East division leaders head to Toronto for a key three-game series with the Blue Jays beginning tonight.

The Red Sox come in fresh of a four-game sweep of Tampa Bay and currently hold a two-game edge on the rival Yankees for first place in the division, with Toronto lurking at 3 1/2 games back.

Boston completed the sweep on Sunday behind eight shutout innings from Tim Wakefield, then survived a four-run rally from the Devil Rays in the ninth inning to hold on for a 5-4 victory.

Wakefield (4-6) gave up five hits while striking out four and walking one. He is now 14-2 with a 2.77 earned run average lifetime against Tampa Bay.

Relievers Rudy Seanez and Julian Tavarez nearly coughed up the 5-0 lead in the ninth, but Red Sox left fielder Willie Harris gunned down Joey Gathright at the plate to prevent the tying run from scoring and record the game's final out.

Mark Loretta finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and extended his hitting streak to 13 games for Boston, while Trot Nixon had a pair of hits and a run batted in.

Red Sox center fielder Coco Crisp went 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored in his first game back off the 15-day disabled list. Crisp suffered a non- displaced fracture of his left ring finger April 9 against Baltimore while sliding into third base

Boston's win streak will be put to the test this evening, as the Sox will have to face Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay.

The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner is putting together another stellar season, bringing an impressive 6-1 record and a 2.77 earned run average into tonight's tilt. Halladay hasn't lost since April 9 and the Blue Jays have won eight of the star right-hander's nine season starts.

Halladay dominated Tampa Bay in his most recent outing, allowing just one run on seven hits without a walk before being lifted with two outs in the ninth inning. Over his last four starts, the 29-year-old is 3-0 with a 1.87 ERA.

He limited Boston to a run over five innings in an 8-1 Toronto win at Rogers Centre on April 22, but Halladay wasn't as good against the Red Sox in Fenway earlier this month. He was touched for five runs and nine hits in six innings and received a no decision in a 7-6 Blue Jays' triumph on May 3.

Halladay owns an 8-6 record and a 4.49 ERA in 25 career appearances (22 starts) against Boston.

The Red Sox counter with erratic righty Matt Clement, who was shelled for eight runs and nine hits over 4 1/3 innings in Wednesday's 8-6 loss to the Yankees. The veteran has alternated wins and losses over his last six starts.

Clement will be facing the Blue Jays for the fourth time this season and is 2-1 with a 5.87 ERA in his three starts against them. One of those wins came at Rogers Centre on April 23, when Clement allowed three runs -- two earned -- in 5 1/3 innings of a 6-3 Boston triumph.

For his career Clement is 2-3 with a gaudy 7.34 ERA in seven starts versus Toronto.

The Jays took two of three from the defending world champion Chicago White Sox over the weekend, but couldn't complete the sweep on Sunday. Jermaine Dye went 3-for-4 with a homer and two runs scored to lead Chicago to a 7-5 win in the finale.

Lyle Overbay had a pair of home runs and Troy Glaus hit his 15th homer of the season for the Blue Jays, who are 4-2 on their current nine-game homestand.

Ty Taubenheim (0-2), making his second major league start, gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings to absorb the loss.

Toronto has won five of the eight meetings between the clubs this season and is 16-10 against Boston since the beginning of the 2005 campaign. The Blue Jays took two of three from the Sox at Rogers Centre last month.

By Jeremy Lemoine

Wilmington, MA - The Bruins are searching for a way to win and that was the primary focus of practice Tuesday morning. They remain positive after taking at least one point out of their last six games. Although they seem to have caught the overtime bug, they’re continuing to work hard towards getting that extra point at the end of the game. It will come and they know it.

“From a team standpoint our game plan won’t change, just maybe simplicity,” said Coach Sullivan. “Last night we were much more disciplined and made much better decisions with the puck, because of that I thought we controlled the play. We had tons of scoring chances, our face-offs were strong, and we limited their quality chances. I think those are the right steps we needed to take and last night we were much harder to play against.”

Joe Thornton agreed that it’s frustrating to lose players to injuries and to lose games in overtime, but thought last night was a better all around effort and was happy to come out of New York with a point.

“I think we’ve been playing good,” said the captain. “We’ve had a point in our last six games so we’re staying positive. I think if we can get the two points it may be a big confidence booster and the team can really ride off that and get into a streak. It’s frustrating to lose guys to injuries, but it’s a part of the game and all of us just need to pick up the slack and work extra hard.”

Injury Update

Veteran defenseman Brian Leetch left Tuesday night’s game in the second period with a knee injury against the New York Islanders. The nature of his knee injury is unknown, and he will undergo an MRI Wednesday.

“We’re hopeful that his injury is not going to be something significant,” said Coach Sullivan. “It’s certainly not a day-to-day injury but we don’t know the significance of it. The severity of it we don’t know yet, but we will find out after the MRI.”

Providence Bruins defenseman Milan Jurcina was called up to the team to fill the void until Leetch returns. Jurcina has played five games in Providence thus far and has recorded two assists and six penalties minutes.

Utility player Ian Moran will be undergoing exploratory surgery sometime this week to find out what is wrong with his knee and to repair some cartilage damage. His return is unknown.

Alex Zhamnov is making progress. He is practicing with the team and hopefully will be back in the lineup soon.

Andrew Raycroft took to the ice as well today. Although he did not take any reaction shots, Coach Sullivan said Saturday is a possibility, but that’s optimistic.

Lastly, with Brad Isbister re-injuring his groin in Tuesday’s game with the Islanders, he will not play tomorrow and a player yet to be named will be called up from their AHL affiliate team, the Providence Bruins. Isbister is listed as day-to-day.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

On Thursday night the Boston Bruins will look to get back to their winning ways as they play host to the Florida Panthers at the TD Banknorth Garden at 7:00 p.m. (NESN). Immediately following the game, Boston's own Dropkick Murphys will perform a special concert, hosted by former Bruin Lyndon Byers. Tickets purchased for the game will automatically grant you access to the Dropkick Murphys performance.Click here to purchase your tickets. The Bruins are searching for a way to win and that was the primary focus of practice Tuesday morning.