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.

–Field Level Media

Pete Crow-Armstrong is making a strong case for National League MVP as he leads the visiting Chicago Cubs in pursuit of a series sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

The All-Star center fielder went 4-for-5 with three runs, two doubles, a home run, three RBIs and a stolen base as the Cubs rolled to an 11-0 victory on Saturday.

According to ESPN, he’s the first Cubs player to record at least 200 RBIs and 90 stolen bases before turning 25 since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Crow-Armstrong, 24, has been on a tear because he has become selective at the plate.

“He’s got a lot of confidence right now,” Counsell said. “(He) can be on go and say no… I think there were points last year where he was on go and it didn’t matter where the pitch was. That’s the difference and that makes (him) the right kind of aggressive.”

Jameson Taillon (2-5, 5.38 ERA) is scheduled to start for Chicago. In his last outing, he received a no-decision after allowing four runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings in an 8-6, 10-inning home loss to the Detroit Tigers.

It was his first appearance since suffering a left hamstring strain on June 7 that landed him on the 15-day injured list. The same problems that plagued Taillon all season resurfaced.

The right-hander gave up back-to-back home runs and left Chicago in a 4-0, first-inning hole. Even after missing time on the IL, he is tied for fourth in the majors with 22 home runs allowed.

Taillon has nine career starts against Pittsburgh and is 4-2 with a 4.58 ERA. In 53 innings, he has struck out 43 and walked 13.

“I’ll keep working behind the scenes to try and figure out the homer thing,” Taillon said. “It feels like that is the snakebite for me. It’s not like I am giving up a ton of hits in a row. It’s the untimely homer.”

The Pirates, meanwhile, are looking for a stronger effort from scheduled starter Braxton Ashcraft (9-4, 3.95 ERA), who struggled in his most recent appearance.

The right-hander allowed eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits while walking one and striking out two in an 8-5 loss at the New York Yankees.

Despite going 4-1 with a no-decision over his last six starts, Ashcraft believes he can pitch better.

He has fared well against the Cubs, posting a 1-1 record with a 2.42 ERA, 24 strikeouts and four walks over 22 1/3 innings in five career starts.

He earned a home victory over Chicago on May 26, allowing one run on seven hits while walking one and striking out five in 6 1/3 innings of a 12-1 Pirates victory.

“It goes back to execution,” Ashcraft said. “Being able to execute with two strikes. Being able to execute with runners in scoring position. That’s how you limit runs, and I’ve done a bad job of that probably the last five starts.”

Pirates manager Don Kelly said his club can avoid a sweep and snap a three-game losing streak.

“We need to find a way,” Kelly said. “We’ve shown the ability this year to bounce back and be resilient.”

–Field Level Media

The Arizona Diamondbacks will try to subdue All-Star CJ Abrams and the host Washington Nationals in the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon.

Abrams finished a triple short of the cycle and drove in three runs in Washington’s 5-3 win on Saturday. The Diamondbacks hold the third and final wild-card spot in the National League, while the Nationals are two games back.

“Definitely enjoying (the pressure),” said Abrams, who is batting .293 this season, with 25 homers and 79 RBIs. “It’s exciting. We’ve done a great job coming up to this point, we’re playing good baseball, so we look to continue to do that.”

Arizona rookie left-hander Kohl Drake (0-0, 1.80 ERA) will oppose veteran right-hander Miles Mikolas (3-7, 5.60) in the finale.

Drake, acquired from the Texas Rangers last July in the Merrill Kelly trade, is coming off an impressive major league debut. Against the visiting Athletics on Tuesday, he pitched five innings, allowing a run on four hits in Arizona’s 6-5 win in 10 innings. Drake struck out five and walked two.

“Five innings, one earned run, I’d take that any day of the week,” he said.

Mikolas has followed an opener in his past two outings and could do so again on Sunday. On Tuesday, he entered in the second inning against the host Colorado Rockies and gave up three runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings in his team’s 8-7 loss. In his previous appearance, he had tossed four scoreless innings against the New York Yankees.

Mikolas is 3-3 with a 3.79 ERA in eight games (six starts) vs. the Diamondbacks.

On Saturday, Abrams provided a two-run double in the third inning, a solo homer in the fifth and later added a single and stole a base. He has 17 stolen bases and a career-high 25 home runs in 101 games this season. He leads the major leagues with 79 RBIs, another career high.

Abrams and fellow All-Star teammate James Wood (28 home runs, 15 stolen bases) became the second duo in major league history to record 25-plus home runs and 15-plus stolen bases in their club’s first 105 games of the season.

Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez accomplished the feat for Cleveland in 2018.

“The leadership that they have in the clubhouse with how well they’re connected with all the guys, and then going out there and performing, it just takes it to another level,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said of Abrams and Wood.

Tim Tawa had two hits and Gabriel Moreno had a two-run single Saturday for the Diamondbacks, who had won four straight games.

Manager Tory Luvollo shook up the top of his lineup, moving Ketel Marte (who leads the team with 18 home runs) into the cleanup spot. Arizona was held to three runs for the second game in a row, and the top four hitters in the order (Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, Moreno and Marte) went 1-for-14 against Nationals ace Foster Griffin and two relievers.

“I’ll take those top four guys up against anybody. I think we can pound the baseball no matter who’s up on the mound,” Lovullo said. “Overall, I believe in this team’s ability to go out there and score five, seven runs every single night. That’s what we need to get to.”

After starter Mitch Bratt departed, the bullpen kept the Diamondbacks within striking distance by providing three scoreless innings for the second game in a row.

The Nationals traded infielder Curtis Mead, 25, to the Boston Red Sox for rookie left-hander Connelly Early, 24, on Saturday night. Early hasn’t pitched since June 30 and went on the injured list July 1 due to left elbow inflammation. The starting pitcher is expected to return in August.

Early is 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 17 games (all starts) over 91 2/3 innings this season, while Mead is batting .254 with 17 homers and 48 RBIs in 87 games.

–Field Level Media