The good news was the Boston Bruins won Game 2 of their first round NHL playoff series but the bad news was the Toronto Blue Jays spoiled Opening Day at Fenway Park by beating the Boston Red Sox. The Jays and Sox battled to a 4-4 tie as Bronson Arroyo went six innings. The Sox took the lead with a Jason Varitek home run but things fell apart as Mike Timlin got hammered for three runs in the eighth. Alan Embree allowed another run in the ninth and Dave McCarty the first baseman was sent to the mound to finish the game. It all added up to a 10-5 Blue Jays victory at Fenway Park.
Arroyo got the ball in the top of the first and Reed Johnson took strike three to start. Frank Catalanotto tripled into the right field corner but Vernon Wells popped up to David Ortiz for a big out. Carlos Delgado lined out to a running Johnny Damon to end the inning. Lilly got the ball in the bottom of the first and Damon led off by grounding out to short. Bill Mueller popped up to third in foul territory and Ellis Burks struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Jays struck first in the top of the second as Josh Phelps walked to start. Eric Hinske dropped a base hit to right and Orlando Hudson walked to load the bases. Chris Woodward popped up to Mark Bellhorn and Kevin Cash struck out swinging, but Johnson singled off the Monster to score both Phelps and Hinske. Catalanotto grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox down 2-0.
Manny Ramirez flied out to right to start the bottom of the second before David Ortiz flied out to left. Kevin Millar grounded out to third to end the inning.
Wells struck out swinging to start the top of the third before Delgado grounded out to first. Phelps got hit in the shoulder but Hinske lined out to a running Damon to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the third as Jason Varitek singled to center to start. Mark Bellhorn forced Varitek at second and Pokey Reese grounded out to third to move Bellhorn to second. Damon dumped a base hit to right to score Bellhorn to cut the lead. Hudson kamikazed himself into the wall in foul territory to catch a pop up by Mueller to end the inning with thr Sox down 2-1.
The Jays struck back in the top of the fourth as Hudson walked to start. Woodward popped up to short but Cash fisted a bloop single over the head of Bellhorn to move Hudson to third. Johnson beat out a double play ball to score Hudson and Damon missed a line drive by Catalanotto resulting in a base hit. Wells hit a double to right to score Johnson but Catalanotto was thrown out at home to end the inning with the Jays up 4-1.
The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fourth although Burks struck out swinging to start. Ramirez hit a line drive off of the foot of Hinske and it rolled into the dugout for a "ground rule double" before Ortiz hit a conventional ground rule double into the right field corner to score Manny. Ortiz moved to third on the Millar grounder to second. Varitek and Bellhorn both walked to load the bases before Reese doubled to the Monster to score Ortiz & Varitek to tie the game. Gabe Kapler pinch hit for Damon and grounded out to short to end the inning but the game was tied 4-4.
The Jays threatened in the top of the fifth as Delgado singled to center to start. Phelps singled over the head of Reese and Hinske just barely beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners. Hudson took strike three and Hinske was gunned down at second trying to steal to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth as Mueller popped up to right to start. Burks struck out swinging and Ramirez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Arroyo returned for one last inning in the top of the sixth and Woodward lined out to a running Kapler to start. Cash popped up to Reese and Johnson flied out to left to end the inning. Arroyo wasn't the sharpest but battled to go six innings while allowing four runs. He allowed 8 hits and 3 walks while striking out four.
The Sox took command in the bottom of the sixth as Ortiz grounded out to second to chase Lilly. Jays manager Carlos Tosca summoned Justin Speier to face Millar and Kevin grounded to short. Varitek clobbered his first home run of the year to put Boston on top. Bellhorn flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox up 5-4.
Mark Malaska made his Sox debut in the top of the seventh and Catalanotto flied out to the left field wall to start. Wells grounded out to third and Delgado flied out to left to end the inning. Reese struck out swinging to open the bottom of the seventh before Kapler flied out to left. Mueller grounded out to first to end the inning.
Everything fell apart in the top of the eighth with Mike Timlin on the mound. Phelps struck out swinging but Hinske singled to center. Hudson doubled to the centerfield wall to score Hinske with the tying run and Simon Pond pinch hit for Woodward. Pond struck out swinging but Cash doubled to center to score Hudson with the go-ahead run. Johnson was plunked and Catalanotto hit the kill shot with a ground rule double into the bullpen. Wells popped up to second to end the inning with the Jays up 7-5.
Terry Adams came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth with Chris Gomez playing short for Pond. Burks grounded out to third and Ramirez grounded out to short, but Ortiz walked to bring the tying run to the plate. Auquilino Lopez came in to face Millar and Kevin forced Ortiz at second to end the inning.
Alan Embree came in to take a beating in the top of the ninth as Delgado led off with a home run into the Charles River to ice the game. Phelps flied out to right and Hinske walked to chase Embree. Sox manager Terry Francona wanted to save his bullpen after last night's marathon so he brought in first baseman David McCarty to finish the game. Hudson hit a comebacker to McCarty to allow Hinske to move to second. Gomez walked and Hinske took third when the ball went to the backstop. Cash doubled into the centerfield triangle to score both runners. Johnson grounded out to short to end the inning with the Jays up 10-5.
New relief pitcher....David McCarty?
Kerry Ligtenberg came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Varitek struck out swinging to start. Bellhorn flied out to center and Brian Daubach made his return to Fenway by pinch hitting for Reese. Daubach grounded out to second to end the game. The Jays had won it 10-5.
Jays win
Timlin The Jackass
Jackass of the Night is Mike Timlin. He allowed 3 runs to take the loss and put the game out of reach
The Good:
Johnny Damon was 1 for 2 with an rbi before leaving the game.
David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Jason Varitek was 2 for 3 with a walk, a home run and 2 runs scored.
Pokey Reese was 1 for 3 with 2 rbis.
Mark Malaska pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
The Bad:
Bill Mueller was 0 for 4.
Ellis Burks was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of three strikeouts.
Kevin Millar was 0 for 4.
Brian Daubach was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Alan Embree was charged with 2 runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
Dave McCarty the first baseman allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning on the mound.
The Ugly:
Manny Ramirez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Mark Bellhorn was 0 for 3 but walked and scored a run.
Bronson Arroyo went 6 innings but allowed four runs on eight hits and three walks. He did strike out four.
Final Thoughts:
Well this was an unmitigated disaster. The Sox plane didn't land until 6 this morning and then they had to do the Opening Day ceremony. Makes sense the team ran out of gas as the game went along. The Jays offense feasted on Sox pitching for 14 hits and 10 runs including battering Timlin and Embree. Those two were integral to the bullpen last year so hopefully they're getting the badness out of their system early. Arroyo didn't look that great but it was the first start of his season. Johnny Damon left the game with a knee injury but Sox manager Terry Francona said it wasn't that serious, thankfully. All in all the Sox are 2-3 to start the season but they're too good to be this bad. They'll turn it around eventually but they're definitely stumbling to start. If that wasn't bad enough, the Sox now have to face Roy Halladay tomorrow who had their number last year. Luckily Pedro Martinez (0-1) is here to match him and the game begins at 7:05 PM at Fenway park.
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