The Sox made some headlines before the game. The Sox designated Clayton Mortensen for assignment while bringing up Pawtucket infielder Jonathan Diaz. The Sox have 10 days to release, trade or assign Mortensen to Pawtucket. The move was made because of Stephen Drew's hamstring injury.
The Jays pounced on the Sox right off the bat in the top of the first against Felix Doubront. Jose Reyes grounded out but Jose Bautista walked. Bautista took second but got caught in a rundown off a grounder by Edwin Encarnarcion. Unfortunately for the Sox, tagging out Bautista meant Encarnarcion was now on second. Edwin scored on a single by Adam Lind to give the Jays a 1-0 lead. Mark DeRosa struck out to end the inning. Jays starter Esmil Rogers was up to the task of preserving the lead in the bottom of the first. Jacoby Ellsbury, Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia failed to reach base.
The Jays threatened in the top of the second when Rajai Davis doubled and stole third off a sleeping Doubront. Doubront got 2 big outs by striking out Colby Rasmus and JP Arencibia. Maicer Izturis grounded out to end the inning, great work by Felix. Daniel Nava worked a 2 out walk but Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out to end the bottom of the 2nd. Doubront got the side in order in the top of the third. Ellsbury reached on a 2 out infield single but Victorino grounded out to end the bottom of the third. Lind singled to lead off the top of the 4th but was erased on the DeRosa double play. Davis walked but was FINALLY caught stealing by Saltalamacchia to end the inning.
Pedroia stroked a lead off double in the bottom of the 4th but was stranded when David Ortiz grounded out, Mike Napoli struck out and Nava grounded out. Rasmus singled to lead off the top of the 5th but Doubront got 2 straight strikeouts then got Reyes to ground out to end the inning. 5 innings, 1 run allowed...not bad so far, just no run support. Salty singled to lead off the bottom of the 5th and after Jose Iglesias lined out, he took second on a wild pitch. With a chance to tie the game, Jonathan Diaz lined out and Ellsbury flied out to end the inning.
Doubront ran into a brick wall in the top of the 6th when the awakened Bautista launched a towering home run to up the lead 2-0. Doubront got the next 3 batters but the damage was done. Could the Sox rally after being shut out for 5 innings? NO! Victorino doubled and headed home when Pedroia sngled. Brian Butterfield made the decision to send Victorino and it turned out to be a bad one when Shane was thrown out at home.
Ortiz then made the decision even worse when he singled, which would have scored Shane easy from third. As it was it was 1st and 2nd with 1 out but Napoli and Nava struck out to end the rally. Davis walked to lead off the top of the 7th but Rasmus flied out. That was it for Felix as Sox manager John Farrell pulled him after 103 pitches in favor of rookie Alex Wilson. As usual, Davis stole second but Wilson got the next 2 outs to end the inning.
The Sox tried to rally again in the bottom of the 7th but once again shot themselves in the foot. Old pal Darren Oliver relieved Rogers and allowed a single to Salty. Iglesias tried to bunt his way on but Izturis threw wide allowing Salty to reach third and Iglesias first. With first and third with no out, Diaz tried a suicide squeeze that failed when Oliver gunned down Salty at home. Jays manager John Gibbons pulled Oliver for Steve Delabar. Ellsbury singled to load the bases. Victorino finally got the Sox on the board by slamming a 2 run single to tie the game. With a chance to take the lead, Pedroia and Ortiz failed to get a hit but the game was tied despite 2 runners thrown out at home.
Junichi Tazawa took the mound for the top of the 8th and immediately vomited up his intestines. Reyes singled and Jose Bautista homered again to give the Jays a 4-2 lead just like that. Encarnarcion flied out but the pesky Lind tripled. Emilio Bonifacio hit for DeRosa but grounded out to first with no advancement. Davis popped up but the damage was done. Delabar struck out the side in the bottom of the 8th to quell any potential rally. The strikeout by Napoli earned him the golden sombrero.
Craig Breslow took the mound in the top of the 9th. Rasmus grounded out but Napoli booted a ground ball by Arencibia, allowing him to reach second. Izturis struck out and all Breslow needed to do was get Reyes out and the Sox would have a chance to tie it in the 9th. Instead Reyes singled home Arencibia to increase the lead 5-2. Jose Bautstia then hit a grounder to Diaz....that went under his glove! Reyes scored from first but Bautista was once again caught in a rundown to end the inning. Bad fielding, baserunning and hitting all contributed to this stinkeroo.
Neil Wagner replaced Delabar for the bottom of the 9th. Iglesias grounded out but Mike Carp hit for Diaz and walked. Ellsbury put the exclamation point on the day by grounding into a double play to end the game.
THE GOOD:
Shane Victorino was 2 for 4 while batting in the two runs the Sox scored. Felix Doubront pitched into the 7th inning while allowing only 2 runs. Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 2 for 4 despite being thrown out at home. Alex Wilson escaped the jam Doubront was in. Mike Carp pinch hit in the 9th and drew a walk.
THE BAD:
Jackass of the Night is Junichi Tazawa. He came in after the Sox worked hard to tie the game and pissed away the game in just 2 batters..
Other heels include Mike Napoli who comitted an error and earned a golden sombrero by going 0 for 4 with 4 K's.
THE UGLY:
Everyone else. Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 4 before grounding into a game ending double play. David Ortiz was just 1 for 4. Daniel Nava was 0 for 3 with a walk. Jose Iglesias was 1 for 4 with a run scored. Jonathan Diaz was 0 for 3 including a huge error but scored a run. Craig Breslow allowed 2 runs in 1 inning but both were un-earned.
Final Thoughts:
This is NOT good. The bullpen arms are showing signs of overuse due to the starters unable to go 7 innings consistently. Tazawa seems to be tiring as well as Breslow. Uehara is 38 and not used to the workload of closing, who knows how long he'll hold up. The good news is they got young arms available in Alex Wilson, Jose De La Torre, Pedro Beato, Rubby De La Rosa and if they ever bring him up, Ryan Rowland-Smith. The loss drops the Sox to 49-34, 2 1/2 games over the Dirty Birds. Tomorrow the Sox send Ryan Dempster to the mound hoping to suck up some innings against former White Sox ace Mark Buehrle.
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