By the numbers: Red Sox offence on pace to outslug 2015 Blue Jays

Led by American League MVP Josh Donaldson, the Blue Jays had one of the best offensive seasons in modern baseball history last season, scoring 5.5 runs per game in an era where runs are hard to come by. Here we are a year later with Toronto 15th in the major leagues in runs per game and with the Boston Red Sox looking like they'll smash the standard set by their division rival.

Entering Friday night's series opener between the two clubs in Boston, the Red Sox have put up 324 runs, good for six runs per game and are in first place in the AL East with a 32-22 record. Through 54 games last season Toronto had scored 275 runs, which was tops in the major leagues, and they were fourth in the division at 24-30.

How are the Red Sox doing it? With contributions from rising stars and the old guard. Jackie Bradley Jr. had a 29-game hitting streak. Xander Bogaerts has a 26-game hitting streak. Mookie Betts made history with five home runs in a two-game span earlier this week. And don't forget David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia, who are performing like All-Stars.

By wRC+, a rate metric that attempts to put all offensive contributions into a single number, adjusting for league and park factors, Boston's 128 would be far and away the best offensive season since 1945. If you prefer a more traditional stat, the Red Sox are on pace to score 960 runs, 69 runs better than Blue Jays' league-leading 891. Boston is also tops in in hits (574), doubles (137), RBIs (312), batting average (.296), OBP (.360), slugging percentage (.494), and OPS (.854).

As we know, Toronto only got stronger as 2015 went on, improving in all facets of the game to clinch a postseason berth for the first time in 22 years. The Blue Jays' odds of getting back there might come down to two questions: Can their offence recapture last year's heights and can the Red Sox keep this up?

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Yahoo Canada Sports. Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr