Brian Johnson got the ball in the top of the first inning and got Eric Sogard to pop up to right to begin. Vladimir Guerrero Jr grounded out to third before Lourdes Gurriel Jr dumped a single to left....that Andrew Benintendi went OLE on to allow Gurriel to reach second on the error. Benintendi atoned for his error by running down a bullet by Randal Grichuk to end the inning. Derek Law got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to second to begin. Benintendi also grounded out to second before Xander Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning.
Teoscar Hernandez led off the top of the second inning by striking out swinging on a 90 mph fastball. Brock "The Hitman" Holt made a diving stab to rob Calvin Biggio of a hit before Freddy Galvis flied out to the centerfield wall to end the inning. JD Martinez drew a walk and moved to second when Holt grounded a ball off the foot of Law, but right to first for an out. Last night's hero Christian Vazquez drew a walk before Jackie Bradley Jr doubled off the left field wall to score both runners, giving the Sox the lead. A jealous Jerry Remy told a story how Fred Lynn and Wade Boggs could pepper the Monster whenever they wanted while he barely ever hit the wall himself. Michael "The Ice Horse" Chavis singled up the middle to score JBJ and chase the opener Law. Sam Gaviglio came in and got Eduardo Nunez to ground back to the mound but Chavis moved to second. Mr. Mookie walked and Benintendi lashed a double off the wall to score both runners. Bogaerts grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 5-0 Red Sox.
Rowdy "Roddy" Telez grounded out to second to begin the top of the third inning before Holt snared a pop-up by Luke Maile. Sogard hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. Martinez lined one off of Telez to begin the bottom of the third but he flipped the ball to first for the out. Holt lined out to center but Vazquez sliced his 10th homer of the year just inside the Pesky Pole to increase the lead. JBJ lashed a single to center but Chavis popped up to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-0.
The Jays struck back in the top of the fourth inning as Guerrero Jr singled off the foot of the left field wall to begin. Guerrero Jr took second on a wild pitch before Chavis OLE'd a routine grounder to short to score Vlad and advance Gurriel Jr to second. Somehow the error was charged to Bogaerts as Johnson recovered to strike out Grichuk. Hernandez beat out an infield single to the mound but Biggio was rung up on a check swing for strike three. Galvis popped up to second to end the inning but it was now 6-1 Sox.
Nunez stroked a single up the middle to begin the bottom of the fourth but Biggio was in the right place to turn an unassisted double play on Betts. Benintendi doubled into the left field corner but Bogaerts grounded out to third to end the inning.
Telez flied out to the centerfield wall to begin the top of the fifth before Maile whiffed. Sogard flied out to right to end the inning with Johnson finished after 83 pitches. He allowed just the 1 run in 5 innings of work.
Martinez was fooled for strike three to begin the bottom of the fifth but Holt singled to right. Biggio dropped a double play ball by Vazquez but JBJ grounded out to first to end the inning.
Mike Shawaryn whiffed Guerrero Jr to open the top of the sixth before Gurriel Jr also went down on strikes. Grichuk grounded out to second to end the inning. Nick Kingham came in for the bottom of the sixthn and whiffed Chavis to start. Nunez grounded out to first but Mr. Mookie walked. Benintendi flied out to left to end the inning.
The Sox completely melted down in the top of the seventh inning although Holt corralled a pop-up by Hernandez to start. Biggio singled to center and Galvis pulvarized a 500,000 foot home run to cut the lead in half. Tellez then pounded a million foot home run as the boo birds rained down. Sox manager Alex Cora had seen enough and took Shawaryn out. Marcus Walden came in and promptly walked Maile. Somehow Walden froze Sogard for strike three but Guerrero Jr poked a seeing eye single to right to advance Maile to third. The nightmare continued as a wild pitch scored Maile and advanced Guerrero Jr to second. Somehow Gurriel Jr whiffed on a high fastball to end the inning but the comeback was underway with the Jays only down 6-5.
The Sox offense laid down and died in the bottom of the seventh inning as Bogaerts popped up weakly to short to begin. Martinez and Holt whiffed badly to end the inning.
The Jays completed the comeback in the top of the eighth inning against Matt Barnes. Grichuk was rung up for strike three but naturally Hernandez beat out an infield single to short. Hernandez took second on another wild pitch and scored on the hit off the glove of Holt by Biggio to tie the game. Somehow Galvis flied out to left but naturally Telez walked. Billy McKinney pinch hit for Maile and yet another wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position. Naturally McKinney walked to load the bases and chase the ineffective Barnes. Ryan Brasier came in and walked Sogard on four pitches to give the Jays the lead. Guerrero Jr walked to score Tellez to ice the game. Somehow Gurriel Jr popped up to first to end the inning. The Sox bullpen allowed 6 hits, 5 walks and 2 home runs in just two innings to give the Jays the 8-6 lead. Absolutely pathetic.
Naturally the Sox offense was done for the night as Vazquez flied out weekly to right against Daniel Hudson. JBJ weekly popped up to left and Chavis whiffed badly on a pitch heading to the backstop to end the inning. The Jays bullpen had retired 7 in a row and 11 of 12, what a difference.
Josh Smith had mop up duty in the top of the ninth as Grichuk took strike three to start. Hernandez whiffed and Biggio froze for strike three to end the inning. Jays closer Ken Giles came in for the bottom of the ninth and blew away pinch hitter Rafael Devers (for Nunez) to begin. Somehow Mr. Mookie walked to bring the tying run to the plate before swiping second. Naturally Benintendi whiffed on a high fastball but the Jays made a boo boo. Bogaerts hit a routine pop up to left but Galvis let the ball drop and bounce into the stands for a ground rule double to score Betts. With the game on the line...Giles blew away Martinez to end the game. A frustrating loss in a season full of the left the Jays the 8-7 winners over the loser Sox.
Jackass of the Night is Matt Barnes. He was charged with 3 runs on 2 walks and 2 hits to blow the game.
The Good:
Mookie Betts walked 3 times in 5 plate appearances and scored 2 runs.
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a walk, 2 runs scored and a solo home run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Eduardo Nunez was 1 for 3.
Brian Johnson came up big tossing 5 innings of 1 run ball throwing a season high 84 pitches.
Josh Smith struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers struck out as a pinch hitter.
Mike Shawaryn allowed 2 runs in 2 innings.
Marcus Walden allowed a run in just 2/3 of an inning.
Ryan Brasier walked in two in herited runners.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
JD Martinez was 0 for 4 but walked and scored.
Brock Holt was just 1 for 4.
Michael Chavis was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored.
Final Thoughts:
In a season full of frustrating losses, this one takes the cake. They had a 6-1 lead over a glorified Triple A team and not only didn't score anymore runs, but allowed 7 in just two innings. Sox general manager Dave Dombrowski screwed up by letting Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel walk without replacing them and then screwed up again by not making a move in May to prevent some of these 15 blown saves. He HAS to do something now because the Tampa Bay Rays are fading and the Sox have a realistic chance to win the wild card, let alone challenge the New York Yankees. The loss dropped the Sox to 42-36, 8 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow the Sox look to rebound against the Jays when they send "Slick" Rick Porcello (5-6, 4.31 ERA) to the mound up against Marcus Stroman of the Jays. The game begins at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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