The Jays wasted no time pounding Fister in the top of the first inning. Jose Bautista hit a comebacker to the mound to start but Russell Martin doubled. Josh Donaldson doubled home Martin to put the Sox behind AGAIN. Justin Smoak struck out and Kendrys Morales grounded out to second to end the inning, but it was 1-0 Jays.
The Sox failed to answer in the bottom of the first inning. Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to third and Chris Young popped up to first, but Dustin Pedroia singled. Hanley Ramirez whiffed to end the inning.
Fister settled down in the top of the second inning as he got Steve Pearce to ground out to short to start. Ezequiel Carrera singled but Ryan Goins flied out to right. Darwin Barney grounded into a force to end the inning. The Sox roared back in the bottom of the second inning against Jays starter Fransisco Liriano. Jackie Bradley Jr lined out to left field but Xander Bogaerts doubled. Sandy Leon doubled home Bogaerts and took third on a Deven Marrero single. Marrero took second on the bad throw home by Carrera. Brock Holt hit a flare to left but Leon got hung up at third in case Pearce caught it, and he was thrown out at home. Mr. Mookie singled home Marrero and Young walked to chase Liriano 1 2/3 innings into it. Dominic Leone came in and got the biggest out of the game when Pedroia lined out to left to end the inning. The Sox were up 3-1 but could have had more.
Just as soon as the Sox took the lead, Fister promptly puked it up in the top of the third. Bautista grounded out to third but Martin and Donaldson worked back to back walks. Smoak grounded out to second but both runners advanced. All Fister needed was one more out...but it didn't come. Morales walked to load the bases and Pearce hit a routine pop up to Holt....who lost it in the sun and allowed Martin and Donaldson to score on the error to tie the game. Carrera walked to reload the bases amd Goins poked a 2 run single to right to give the Jays the lead. Barney grounded out to end the inning but it was 5-3 Jays.
How did the Red Sox respond in the bottom of the third? They laid down and died as both Ramirez and JBJ struck out before Bogaerts flied out to center to end the inning.
Fister recovered to pitch a clean top of the fourth inning. Bautista flied out to right but Mr. Mookie appeared to hurt himself making the catch. Fister struck out Martin and Donaldson to end the inning. Leone also shut down the Sox in the bottom of the fourth. Leon and Marrero struck out before Holt grounded out to second to end the inning.
The carnage continued in the top of the fifth inning when Justin Smoak led off with a home run. Morales singled but was erased on the force by Pearce. That was it for Fister as Sox manager John Farrell waived the white flag by bringing in Fernando Abad. Fister once again stunk the joint out by going only 4 1/3 innings while giving up 6 runs. He is quickly becoming hated by Boston fans eerily similar to Erik Bedard in 2011.
Abad slammed the door as Carrera struck out and Goins hit a comebacker to the mound to end the inning withthe score now 6-3. Once again the Sox made a baserunning blunder in the bottom of the fifth inning. Mr. Mookie walked to chase Leone with Jeff Biagini now on the mound. Betts got thrown out at second trying to steal and Young grounded out. Pedroia singled and Ramirez walked to bring the tying run to the plate...but JBJ whiffed to end the inning.
Abad returned for the top of the sixth inning but his control didn't. Barney walked but Abad froze Bautista for strike three. Martin walked to chase Abad as Ben Taylor came in looking like an old west outlaw. He froze Donaldson on strikes but a wild pitch and a single by...you guessed it..Smoak scored Barney to increase the lead. Morales flied out to center to end the inning but it was now 7-3 Toronto.
Biagini slammed the door in the bottom of the sixth, getting Bogaerts to ground out to start. Leon lined out to right and Marrero hit a comebacker to the mound to end the inning.
Rookie Kyle Martin made his major league debut in the top of the seventh inning by striking out Pearce. Carrera grounded out to first but Goins walked. Barney flied out to right to end the inning. Good debut for Martin.
Suddenly the Sox exploded in the bottom of the seventh inning against Danny Barnes. Holt walked and Mr Mookie singled. Andrew Benintendi pinch hit for Chris Young...and flied out. All of a sudden WHAM! Pedroia cracked a 3 run home run to cut the lead to 1 and wake up Fenway. How big was the 7th run allowed now? Ramirez grounded out but JBJ walked to put the tying run on. Ryan Tepera replaced Barnes and struck out Bogaerts to end the inning but the Sox were back in it, 7-6.
Given new life, Brandon Workman shut the door in the top of the eighth inning. Bautista flied out to right before Martin struck out. Donaldson whiffed to end the inning. Leon walked to put the tying run on in the bottom of the eighth. Rather than have Mitch Moreland pinch run for Leon, John Farrell opted to have him pinch hit for Marrero instead. Predictably he flied out to right. Holt whiffed and Mr Mookie linedout to right to end the inning. Horrible management by Farrell to leave the slow Leon on the bases and let Holt hit.
Christian Vazquez was brought in to play third with nobody left on the bench, but it didnt matter as Smoak put the exclamation point on his night with a solo blast to ice the game. Morales flied out to left and Pearce struck out, but Carrera doubled. Goins flied out to left to end the inning but it was 8-6 Toronto.
Jays closer Roberto Osuna took the mound in the bottom of the ninth but the Sox were dead. Benintendi grounded out to first, Pedroia whiffed and Ramirez struck out to end the game. The Jays had won it 8-6.
Jackass of the Night is Doug Fister. The Sox offense had knocked Liriano out in the second inning so all Fister had to do was pitch well before they could crack the bullpen. Instead he crapped himself, getting knocked out in the fifth inning and allowing 6 runs.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with a walk, run scored and 2 rbis.
Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5 with a big 3 run home run.
Sandy Leon was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Deven Marrero was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Kyle Martin pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 2 as a pinch hitter.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Fernando Abad allowed a run in an inning of work.
The Ugly:
Chris Young was 0 for 2 but walked.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but drew a walk.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 bit scored a run.
Brock Holt was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored, but his error allowed Toronto to take the lead.
Ben Taylor allowed an inherited runner to score an insurance run but allowed none of his own.
Brandon Workman allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Honorable Mention:
Christian Vazquez played THIRD BASE in tje top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
This has to be one of the most frustrating losses of the season. They couldnt hit in tje clutch, couldn't pitch well, couldn't field well or manage well. This was a complete team effort of suckage. This team is rapidly becoming very unlikable from top to bottom. Apart from Chris Sale, Drew Pomeranz and Dustin Pedroia, everybody seems to be struggling including the bullpen. It also appears that the confrontation between Dennis Eckersley and David Price last month was more vicious than it seemed. Details will be coming out shortly. As for this game, what a disaster from top to bottom. The loss dropped the Sox to 54-43, 2.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Red Sox are on a West Coast trip to Anaheim to play the Angels. Chris Sale (11-4) takes on Ricky Nolasco in Game 1 at 10:00 PM Eastern time.
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