As for the game, so much for Clay Buchholz (1-3, 5.76 ERA) being the "ace" of the pitching staff. The Red Sox offense managed to pound out 8 runs on 13 hits but the Jays feasted on the terrible Red Sox pitching for 17 hits and 11 runs of their own. Once again the Sox couldnt match an AL East offense as the Jays smacked the Sox around 11-8 at Fenway Park
Buchholz trudged to the mound in the top of the first inning and Devon Travis led off by lining out to a running Mookie Betts in center. Xander Bogaerts made a diving stab to rob Josh Donaldson of a hit before Jose Bautista whiffed to end the inning. Drew Hutchison got the start for the Jays and Mr. Mookie popped up to Edwin Encarnacion who fell into the Sox dugout. Dustin Pedroia drew a walk but David Ortiz flied out to center. Hanley Ramirez lined out to right to end the inning.
Buchholz got Encarnacion to line out to center to start the top of the second but Russell Martin grounded a ball over the head of Clay for a base hit. Michael Saunders whiffed before Danny Valencia struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox exploded in the bottom of the second as Pablo Sandoval doubled off the left field grandstands to start. Daniel Nava moved Sandoval over with a grounder to second but Brock "The Hitman" Holt grounded out to second. Xander Bogaerts lined a single past a diving Encarnacion to score Sandoval to give the Sox the lead. Ryan Hanigan drew a walk and Mr. Mookie blooped a single to right to score Bogaerts with another run. Pedroia bounced a seeing eye single up the middle to score Hanigan and send Betts to third. Ortiz blooped a single to left to score Betts to increase the lead. Ramirez flied out to center to end the inning but it was 4-0 Sox.
Buchholz took the 4-0 lead and promptly pissed it away in the top of the third inning as Kevin Pillar drew a walk to start. Ryan Goins singled off the Monster to move Pillar to third and Travis singled home Kevin to put the Jays on the board. Donaldson singled home Goins and advanced Travis to third before Bautista hit a fly ball to Holt. Holt gunned it home but Travis jumped over the tag to score the run.
Ramirez kicked a base hit by Encarnacion which allowed Donaldson to score and Edwin to reach second. Martin was rung up for strike three but Saunders singled home Encarnacion to chase Buchholz. The "ace" lasted 2 2/3 innings and allowed 5 runs before leaving to a chorus of boos. Edward Mujica got Valencia to ground into a force to end the inning but the Jays roared back to take a 5-4 lead.
Sandoval tried to start a rally when he doubled off the Monster to start the bottom of the third, but Nava lined one right to second. Holt drew a walk but Bogaerts popped up to center. Hutchison got the slow footed Hanigan on a grounder back to him to end the inning.
Mujica returned for the top of the fourth inning and took a beating. Pillar beat out an infield single to third to start but Goins banged into a double play. Travis walked and took second on a balk before Donaldson walked. Bautista singled past the diving Pedroia to score Travis with another run and move Donaldson to third. Yet another balk scored Donaldson and Encarnacion stroked a seeing eye single to left to score Bautista. A lot of these hits were simply just finding holes as Valencia popped up to right to end the inning with the Jays ahead 8-4.
Mr. Mookie tried to rally the Sox with a double off the Monster to start the bottom of the fourth before moving to third on the fly ball to center by Pedroia. Betts scored on the sac fly by Ortiz before Ramirez ripped a base hit up the middle. All of a sudden Ramirez took off for second and Martin made an amazing throw to gun him down to end the inning. The Sox got one back to trail 8-5.
Anthony Varvaro took over for the top of the fifth inning and got Saunders looking to start. Valencia also watched strike three go by but Pillar drilled a base hit to right. Pillar swiped second and scored on the triple by Goins. Travis waived at strike three in the dirt to end the inning but the Jays were up 9-5
Sandoval tried to start a rally with a base hit to right to begin. Nava drew a full count walk before Holt walked to load the bases with nobody out to chase Hutchison. Marco Estrada came in and the Sox choked their chance to come back away as Bogaerts waived at a changeup in the other batters box for strike 3. Hanigan lined out to left but Mr. Mookie walked to score Sandoval. With the tying run at first...Pedroia grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox scored a run but still trailed 9-6 after that waste.
Varvaro returned for the top of the sixth and Donaldson effortlessly singled to center before Jose Bautista drew a walk. Encarnacion popped up to first in foul territory and that was it for Varvaro. Robbie Ross Jr was brought in to face Martin and he walked to load the bases. Saunders banged into a double play to end the inning,. Ortiz walked to open the bottom of the sixth but Ramirez popped up to second. Ortiz was erased on the force by Sandoval and Nava whiffed to end the inning.
Ross Jr got in major trouble in the top of the seventh as Valencia dumped a base hit to right to start. Pillar lined a ball off the third base bag and took second on the double as Valencia came within inches of being tagged out at third. Ross got a big out by getting Goins to waive out an outside corner slider before Travis grounded out to third. Donaldson flied out to right to end the inning. Good work by Ross to houdini out of that.
Holt led off the bottom of the seventh by taking strike three before Bogaerts grounded out to short...but wait! Sox manager John Farrell challenged the call but Head of MLB Operations Joe Torre DEMANDED the call stand, Bogaerts was out. Hanigan grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Jays iced the game in the top of the eighth against Craig Breslow as Bautista pulverized a solo home run completely out of Fenway to increase the lead. Encarnacion flied out to center but Martin walked. Saunders singled off the glove of Pedroia but Valencia was rung up for strike three. Pillar lined out to center to end the inning with the Jays ahead 10-6
Aaron Loup came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Mr. Mookie took strike three to start. Pedroia was also frozen for strike three before Ortiz lined a double to the right field wall to beat the shift. Ramirez then blasted a 2 run bomb just inside the Pesky Pole to cut the lead. Sandoval singled to the left field wall to chase Loup. Liam Hendriks came in to pitch with Allen Craig pinch hitting for Nava. Craig grounded back to the mound to end the inning but the Sox were closer, trailing 10-8.
Just when the Sox had momentum, they pissed it away in the top of the ninth. Breslow got Goins looking on the outside corner and that was the end of his night. Junichi Tazawa came in and Sandoval nearly threw a grounder by Travis away but Craig scooped it out. Donaldson then bashed a 679,000 foot home run to wrap up the scoring. Tazawa punched out Bautista to end the inning but the Jays added to the lead 11-8.
Brett Cecil came in to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth and Holt went down swinging to start. Bogaerts poked a line out to left but Hanigan stroked a seeing eye single to left. Hanigan took second on a passed ball but Mr. Mookie grounded out to second to end the game. The Jays had survived the slugfest 11-8.
Jackass of the Night is Clay Buchholz. He got hammered for 5 runs in 2 2/3 innings to take the loss.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 5 with a walk, 2 rbis and 2 runs scored.
David Ortiz was 2 for 3 with a walk, 2 rbis and a run scored.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 5 with a 2 run home run
Pablo Sandoval was 4 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Robbie Ross Jr tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Allen Craig was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Edward Mujica was charged with 3 runs in 1 1/3 innings.
Anthony Varvaro allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings.
Craig Breslow allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings.
Junichi Tazawa allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 with a walk but drove in a run.
Daniel Nava was 0 for 3 but walked.
Brock Holt was 0 for 3 but walked twice.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run and scored.
Ryan Hanigan was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
The Blue Jays offense is for real but if Clay Buchholz gets smacked around, what's going to happen to the other starters? Joe Kelly, Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson aren't that intimidating nor are any of them an ace. If Buchholz is not a true stopper this team is in big trouble. They got the bats in Betts, Ortiz, Ramirez, Sandoval and Bogaerts but they can't score 8-10 runs a game...and tonight proved they may not win even if they do! The bullpen giving up 6 runs was just as alarming as Buchholz not having it. The Sox have one game left in April and hopefully they can win this one. Tomorrow night is the rubber game of this set with "Slick" Rick Porcello (1-2) taking on RA Dickey at 6:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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