Game 104: Blue Jays at Red Sox lineups and notes

Welcome back, Ranger Suarez.

The Red Sox, who have won 16 of their last 18, will have the lefthander back for the first time time since July 5, the day he found out he was named to his second All-Star team. He returns from a strained groin.

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Suarez, 30, was scheduled to return last week, but his comeback was delayed because he was ill.

The Sox traded lefthander Connelly Early, on the injured list since July 1 with elbow inflammation, to the Washington Nationals for infielder Curtis Mead on Saturday night.

Early is 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 17 starts 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 Payton 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.”

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Here is a preview for Sunday’s affair.

BLUE JAYS (48-57): TBA

Pitching: RHP Kevin Gausman (4-9, 4.51 ERA)

RED SOX (53-50): Yoshida DH, Rafaela CF, Abreu RF, Contreras 1B, Durbin 3B, Gonzalez 2B, Duran LF, Monasterio SS, Narváez C

Pitching: LHP Ranger Suarez (4-3, 3.15 ERA)

Time: 1:35 p.m.

TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7

Blue Jays vs. Suarez: Ernie Clement 2-6, Andrés Giménez 0-4, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 0-7, Alejandro Kirk 2-3, Kazuma Okamoto 0-3, Davis Schneider 1-3, George Springer 0-3, Myles Straw 0-8, Luis Urías 0-3, Daulton Varsho 0-2

Red Sox vs. Gausman: Wilyer Abreu 1-11, Willson Contreras 4-11, Jarren Duran 8-25, Caleb Durbin 1-2, Romy González 2-6, Andruw Monasterio 1-5, Carlos Narváez 1-6, Ceddanne Rafaela 1-5, Connor Wong 0-5, Masataka Yoshida 8-15

Stat of the day: The Blue Jays have lost seven straight games that Gausman has started.

Notes: Gausman is 9-11 with a 4.25 ERA in 33 games against the Red Sox, including 28 starts. … George Springer is a .320 hitter with 41 RBIs and 10 home runs in 50 career games in Boston. … Suarez 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. … To make room for Suarez on the active roster, the Red Sox optioned Alec Gamboa to Triple-A Worcester.

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