As for the game, Jon Lester didn't have it and neither did the bullpen as the Toronto Blue Jays pounded out 9 runs, 4 of them driven in by Edwin Encarnarcion as the Jays romped to a 9-7 win at Skydome to break the 5 game win streak.
Brandon Morrow started for the Blue Jays and walked Jacoby Ellsbury to start the top of the first inning. Daniel Nava flied out but Dustin Pedroia legged out an infield single. Morrow recovered to strike out both David Ortiz and Mike Napoli to end the inning. The Jays struck first immediately in the bottom of the first. Brett Lawrie grounded out but Rajai Davis walked and swiped second. Jose Bautista doubled in Davis for the game's first run. Edwin Encarnarcion flied out and Melky Cabrera struck out to end the inning with the Jays up 1-0.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the second inning. Mike Carp, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Will Middlebrooks all struck out in short order. Lester couldn't get a clean inning in the bottom of the second. JP Arencebia grounded out, Maicer Izturis lined out but Colby Rasmus beat out an infield single. Emilio Bonifacio struck out to end the inning.
The Sox mustered zilch against Morrow in the top of the third inning. Stephen Drew grounded out but Ellsbury walked again. Nava and Pedroia flied out to end the inning. The Jays struck again in the bottom of the third inning. Lawrie singled and Davis was hit with a pitch. Bautista walked to load the bases. Saltalamacchia then made a mental and physical error all in the same play. He went to pickoff Bautista but his elbow caught the home plate umpire. The throw sailed away allowing Davis and Lawrie to score plus advance Jose to second. Rather than protest, Jarrod had no idea there's a rule against that which would have negated the error. Instead his obliviousness cost the Red Sox two runs. Bautista moved to third on the Encarnarcion fly out but Cabrera grounded out to keep him there....briefly. Arencebia doubled him home but Izturis popped up to end the inning. The Jays now had a 4-0 lead, thanks a lot Saltalamacchia.
The Sox said enough of this monkey business in the top of the fourth inning. Ortiz blasted a 417 foot bomb to center to put the Sox on the board. Napoli whiffed but Carp blasted a home run of his own to cut the lead in half. Saltalamacchia partially atoned for his mistake by drawing a walk but Middlebrooks grounded into a double play to end the inning. Still the Sox had climbed back in it, now down 4-2.
Lester did his part by keeping the Jays off the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning. Rasmus and Bonifacio struck out and Lawrie grounded back to Jon to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth. Drew and Ellsbury hit back to back singles but Nava flied out. Pedroia singled home Drew to cut the lead to one. Ortiz whiffed and Ellsbury for some inane reason started staring at a hot dog vendor doing the Macarena because he was foolishly thrown out on a pickoff. That's two mental errors now with the Sox still trailing 4-3.
The Jays increased the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Davis singled but Bautista flied out. Encarnarcion then blasted a 2 run bomb to jack up the crowd. Cabrera and Arencibia grounded out but Lester had given up 6 runs in just 5 innings. Not good.
Morrow didnt return for the top of the sixth inning, instead it was Aaron "Fruit" Loup that took the mound. Napoli struck out and Jonny Gomes pinch hit for Carp. Great move by Sox manager John Farrell as Gomes blasted a solo shot to cut the lead back to one. Saltalamacchia grounded out and Middlebrooks flied out but the Sox now trailed 6-5. Lester did return for the bottom of the sixth and finished strong. Izturis flied out, Rasmus struck out and Bonifacio struck out. It wasn't his best start but Lester still had gone six inning, small consolation prize for giving up 6 runs.
The Sox tried to put Lester in line for the win in the top of the seventh inning. Izturis moved to second base as Munenori Kawasaki replaced Bonifacio in the lineup playing shortstop. Drew struck out but Ellsbury singled. Nava grounded one to Kawasaki who did a cartwheel and threw the ball halfway into the Owner's Box for an error. Some defensive replacement he was. Steve Delabar was brought in to pitch to Pedroia and he walked. Ortiz continued his hot streak with a 2 run double to put the Sox up 7-6 and just 9 outs away from stealing one. Napoli struck out AGAIN and Gomes flied out to end the inning.
Junichi Tazawa came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and unfortunately vomited up his intestines. Lawrie flied out and Adam Lind pinch hit for Davis only to strike out. Just 7 outs from victory, Taz walked Bautista and Encarnarcion crushed another 2 run bomb to give Toronto an 8-7 lead. Cabrera struck out but the Jays now led 8-7. Thanks for nothing Tazawa.
The ageless Darren Oliver took over in the top of the eighth. Hard to believe after he looked washed up on the 2002 Red Sox he'd still be in the league 11 years later. Saltalamacchia walked but Middlebrooks was too busy checking out Jenny Dell and took strike three. Drew erased Jarrod on a force play and Ellsbury grounded out to end the inning.
For some reason Sox manager John Farrell brought in returning closer Joel Hanrahan to pitch the top of the ninth. Guess he figured Joel needed some work and could be rusty. He certainly looked it as Arencibia singled and was sacrificed to second by Izturis. The plan worked as Rasmus slammed a single that scored Arencibia. Kawasaki grounded out and Lawrie flied out to end the inning. The Jays now led 9-7.
Jays closer Casey Janssen took the mound for the top of the ninth and cruised. Nava and Pedroia both grounded out and Ortiz flied out to end the game. The Jays had won it 9-7.
Jackass of the Night is Junichi Tazawa. Staked to their first lead all game, Taz coughed it up by serving up a 2 run jack to Encarnarcion.
The Good:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with a walk, run scored and an rbi.
David Ortiz was 2 for 5 including a home run and 4 total rbi's.
Mike Carp went 1 for 2 by blasting a solo home run.
Jonny Gomes pinch hit for cap and belted a solo home run
The Bad:
Mike Napoli earned a golden sombrero by going 0 for 4 with 4 strikeouts.
Will Middlebrooks was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Joel Hanrahan gave up a run in the ninth in his first game off the DL.
The Ugly:
Daniel Nava was 0 for 5 but scored a run.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 0 for 2 but walked twice.
Stephen Drew was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Jon Lester got tagged for 6 runs but went 6 innings and was still in line for the win had Tazawa not blown it.
Final Thoughts:
That totally sucked. Just when it looked like the Sox were going to steal one after clawing their way back all game, Tazawa had to puke on himself. There will be games like this down the road but for now, this one hurt. The Saltalamacchia gaffe was huge and Lester stinking the joint out early sucked but Tazawa and Hanrahan failing to protect the lead/game was maddening. Apart from the offense, everything else was plain old bawful. Still, it was a successful month of April that has the Sox at 18-8 and in first place in the AL East heading into May. Who the hell saw that coming before the year started? I'm sure Tazawa and Lester will have better days, this was just not one of them. Tomorrow night Clay Buchholz (5-0) gets the ball and takes on Mark Buehrle in Game 2 of the series at 7:05 PM.
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