The Sox wasted no time scoring against starter Aaron Sanchez in the top of the first inning. Mr. Mookie Betts drew a walk and Andrew Benintendi singled him to third. Hanley Ramirez looked at strike three but Benintendi swiped second. JD Martinez grounded out but Betts scored to give the Sox the lead. Xander Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
The Jays wasted no time scoring against Sale in the bottom of the first inning as Teoscar Hernandez led off with a double. Josh Donaldson singled to score Hernandez just like that. Sale recovered to strike out both Yangervis Solarte and Justin Smoak before Kevin Pillar flied out to center to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Mitch Moreland grounded back to the mound to start the top of the second inning but Eduardo Nunez singled. Brock "The Hitman" Holt and Sandy Leon both popped up to short to end the inning. The Jays once again didn't miss a second to score off Sale in the bottom of the second. Kendrys Morales hit a ground rule double before advancing to third on a fly out by Anthony Alford. Luke Maile singled in Morales to give the Jays the lead. Lourdes Guriel Jr struck out but Hernandez hit a ground ball to Sale. He decided to throw it into the left field corner for an error before striking out Donaldson to end the inning with the Jays up 2-1.
Sanchez whiffed Mr. Mookie to start the top of the third before Benintendi grounded out to first. Ramirez walked and Martinez doubled. Ramirez broke for home and the throw came....OUT! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged the call but alert Yankees manag....errr Head of MLB Operations Joe Torre said no way Jose and the inning was over. Sale pitched a clean bottom of the third as Solarte grounded out to short, Smoak grounded out to first and Pillar grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fourth inning when Bogaerts belted his fourth home run of the year to tie the game. Moreland singled but was erased on the Nunez force. Nunez himself was erased on the Holt force and Leon whiffed to end the inning....oh wait. Maile dropped the ball and then threw over the first basemen's head to score Holt all the way from first on the error. Mr. Mookie lined out to left to end the inning but led 3-2 thanks to the gift and the homer.
Sale turned up the heat in the bottom of the fourth inning by whiffing Morales, Alford and Maile in short order.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth although Benintendi walked to start. Ramirez whiffed but Benintendi moved to second on the long fly out by Martinez. Bogaerts lined out to third on a bullet to end the inning. Sale returned for the bottom of the fifth and struck out Guriel Jr to start. Hernandez and Donaldson whiffed to end the inning as that was 6 k's in a row for Sale.
That was it for Sanchez as the Toronto bullpen came in and dominated the rest of the way. John Axford came in for the top of the sixth and walked Moreland but Nunez beat out a double play ball.....but wait! Yankees manag.....er Head of MLB Operations demanded the umpires change the call and it was reversed into a double play. Holt grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Sale returned to get Solarte to pop up to first to begin the bottom of the sixth. Smoak was frozen for strike three and Pillar lined out to second to end the inning,
Seunghwan Oh whiffed Leon to begin the top of the seventh before Mr. Mookie grounded out to third. Benintendi whiffed to end the inning. The Jays tied it in the bottom of the seventh although Morales grounded out to third to start. Alford grounded out to second but Maile crushed a 349,000 foot bomb to tie the game. Gurriel Jr struck out again but it was tied 3-3.
Ryan Tepera came in and shut down the Sox in the top of the eighth inning as Ramirez froze for strike three to begin. Martinez popped up to first and Bogaerts hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. Sale returned for the bottom of the eighth and got Hernandez to ground out to first to begin. Donaldson and Solarte both whiffed to end the inning.
Tyler Clippard manhandled the Sox in the top of the ninth as Moreland flied out to right, Nunez watched strike three go by and Holt was frozen for strike three to end the inning. Sale came out for the bottom of the ninth and whiffed Smoak for his 15th strikeout of the night. Pillar doubled but was foolishy thrown out trying to stretch and Morales grounded out to short to end the inning. Sale had thrown a 9 inning, 15 strikeout game but couldn't get the win. Absolutely embarrassing support by the Sox offense.
Sam Gaviglio took over for the top of the tenth and Rafael Devers pinch hit for Leon only to watch strike three go by. Mr. Mookie reached first on an error and swiped second, but Benintendi popped up to third. Ramirez grounded out to third to end the inning. Christian Vazquez came in to play catched with Matt Barnes now on the mound in the bottom of the ninth. Things didn't look good when Curtis Granderson pinch hit for Alford and walked. Maile walked but Dalton Pompey pinch hit for Gurriel Jr and bunted foul for strike three. Hernandez lined out to right and Donaldson whiffed to end the inning.
Richard Urena took over at short for the top of the 11th and Martinez whiffed to start. Bogaerts was plunked bu Moreland flied out to left. Nunez flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox had not had a hit since the top of the fourth inning. Carson Smith took over for the bottom of the 11th and got Solarte to ground out to first to start. Smoak whiffed but Pillar singled. Pillar swiped second but Morales whiffed to end the inning.
Holt finally broke the hitless streak with a base hit to start the top of the 12th, but Vazquez flied out to left. Mr. Mookie whiffed and Benintendi flied out to right to end the inning. That's 8 shutout innings thrown by Toronto since the top of the fourth, 6 of them by the Toronto bullpen. The end came quickly with Brian Johnson on the mound for the bottom of the 12th. Granderson walked and Maile smashed his second homer of the night (and year) to win the game for the Jays 5-3. A crushing loss for the Sox.
Jackass of the Night is Brian Johnson. Once again he gave up an extra innings home run to blow the game.
The Good:
Chris Sale was outstanding. He tossed 9 innings, allowed 3 runs and struck out 15. He deserves better run support.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 10th inning.
Carson Smith pitched a scoreless 11th inning.
The Bad:
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Rafael Devers struck out as a pinch hitter.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 5 but walked and scored.
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 5 but walked.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4 but walked.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 5 with an rbi.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but the hit was a solo shot.
Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 5.
Brock Holt was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Gadzooks! Where did the offense go? After the fourth inning it was if they all fell asleep. Things better improve or the Yankees are going to overtake them for sure. Chris Sale is probably screaming in the shower at how bad he wants out of here as we speak. The loss dropped the Sox to 26-12, tied for first place in the AL East with the New York Yankees. David Price (2-4, 5.11 ERA) has apparently survived his battle with carpal tunnel and will take the mound opposite Marco Estrada at 4:05 PM at Skydome.
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