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Crawford's double ends the game in the 11th

The Red Sox and the Blue Jays are in the middle of the pack in the race for the American League East title, and they'll have a chance to jockey for a better position when they square off for two games starting on Tuesday.

The Red Sox, who are in third place, are 4-1 against the Blue Jays and 6-6 against divisional opponents this season. Boston went 12-6 against Toronto last season.

The fourth-place Blue Jays are 5-10 against the AL East in 2011, and they finished 39-33 against the division last season.

Get ready for a showdown.

The Red Sox will send Jon Lester to the mound with extra rest following the latest round of shuffling in the rotation. The lefty would have started on Sunday, but Daisuke Matsuzaka made the start, and Josh Beckett pitched on Monday night against the Twins. The veteran Tim Wakefield made a spot start on Friday.

In his most recent start, Lester notched 11 strikeouts while allowing one run over seven innings in a win over the Angels. It was his sixth consecutive quality start and fourth straight win.

Blue Jays starter Kyle Drabek allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings during his last start, at Tampa Bay, for his second loss of the season. He has allowed 25 walks in 38 innings this season and continues to develop as a Major League pitcher.

"I think the progression and the experiences that Kyle has had to date are not too far from what we expected," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. "I think regardless of who it is, at this stage of their career, there's going to be some growing pains in that, and there's going to be some really positive experiences. I think the most important thing is that Kyle's learning about himself."

Red Sox: The hits keep coming for Ellsbury
Jacoby Ellsbury's 18-game hit streak is the longest by a Red Sox player since 2009, when Victor Martinez hit in 25 straight from Aug. 28 to Sept. 9. It is the longest active streak in the Majors and Ellsbury's longest stretch since a career-high 22-game streak from May 2-27 two seasons ago.

• Kevin Youkilis has been hit by a pitch three times this season and 71 times in his career, tying him with Mo Vaughn for the most times in Red Sox history. He's been hit 65 times since the start of 2006, the most in the AL in that span.

Blue Jays: Lind hurting, could be shelved
Adam Lind was held out of his second straight game with tightness in his lower back on Monday and could hit the disabled list. He is hitting .407 with six home runs and 18 RBIs in his last 15 games, and he has at least one RBI in each of his last 11 games.

• Dating back to Sept. 1, 2009, Jose Bautista leads the Major Leagues with 74 home runs in 217 games. He has 10 home runs for the season.

Worth noting
Twenty one of Toronto's first 34 games this season were decided by two runs or fewer. ... The Blue Jays' bullpen led the Major Leagues with an opponent's batting average of .191 after the first 34 games of the season. ... Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford went 1-for-5, including the game-winning hit, on Monday, to extend his hitting streak to nine games. He has hit eighth in the batting order in 13 of his 33 starts this season. He's also hit in four other spots in the lineup. ... The Red Sox are in the middle of a stretch in which they play 16 games without a day off.

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