Red Sox - 800 000 310 - 12 19 1 Blue Jays - 040 000 002 - 6 14 1The first eight Red Sox batters reached base and scored - and the game was 21 minutes old before the Blue Jays recorded an out. Toronto starter Matt Boyd (0-6-7-1-0, 28) threw fewer pitches than three of the relievers that followed him to the Skydome mound.
The highlight of Boyd's second big league start was getting ahead of Mookie Betts 0-2. Then Betts (3-for-6) lined a single to left. Brock Holt (4-for-6) grounded a single to right. Xander Bogaerts (4-for-6) lined an RBI-single to center. David Ortiz hit an opposite field three-run home run (off a lefty!). Hanley Ramirez followed with a solo bomb to the second deck in left-centre. Pablo Sandoval singled to right and Mike Napoli walked.
Liam Hendriks came out of the pen and Alejandro De Aza promptly tripled to left-centre, scoring two more runs. Ryan Hanigan - reactivated from the disabled list - popped to second, which caused a standing ovation at Skydome. Betts singled in De Aza, making it 8-0. Holt lined a pitch off Hendriks's foot, and the ball caromed over to third baseman Josh Donaldson. The umpires ruled that Betts interfered with Donaldson, despite the fact that Betts tried to both stop running into the fielder and get out of his way. Bogaerts grounded out to shortstop to end the festivities.
The Boston bats went quiet for the next couple of innings and Wade Miley made every Red Sox fan feel like this would be one of those horrific games in which the bats go into hibernation and the opposing team chips away at the lead before finally coming out on top. In five innings, Miley (5-7-4-7-2, 103) allowed seven hits and seven walks. Toronto sent 10 men to the plate and scored four runs. They brought the potential tying run to the plate and left the bases loaded. And although the Jays did not score in the fourth, Miley left the bases filled in that frame, as well.
Boston purchased some insurance runs in the seventh, with De Aza, Betts, and Bogaerts driving in runs.
The Red Sox set a season-high mark with 19 hits. Holt and Bogaerts each had four hits. De Aza went 3-for-5, with a single, double, triple, and four RBI. Betts went 3-for-6.
Larry Lucchino says he is "a little embarrassed" by the Red Sox's performance this season.
Good god, "a little"? What would it take to get him to drop the qualifier?
ReplyDeleteElias:
ReplyDeleteBoston scored eight runs total in the first inning. It's only the third time in the last 80 years that the Red Sox scored at least eight runs in the opening frame of a road game. On July 5, 1953, the Sox scored eight runs in the first inning against the A's in Philadelphia; and on June 21, 1994 they scored 10 runs in the opening frame against the Blue Jays in Toronto.
Also:
After blanking the Mets on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Cubs stifled New York's offense again and posted a 6-1 victory on Thursday to complete a three-game sweep at Citi Field. It marks the first time in over 97 years that the Cubs allowed one or fewer runs in a road series of at least three games. The last time Chicago pulled that off was in June of 1918 when it allowed only one run in a three game sweep of the Phillies at the Baker Bowl.
ESPN: "Red Sox angling to make AL East five-team free-for-all"
ReplyDeleteFuck yeah!
Baseball is crazy.
ReplyDeleteRays: 42-39 - Run Differential: -2
Jays: 42-39 - Run Differential: +88