As for the game, another unmitigated disaster for a terrible team. After getting shut out the night before, the Boston Red Sox bats nearly put up another goose egg against the Toronto Blue Jays. Jays starter Eric Lauer was knocked out in the fifth inning after allowing a run and the Toronto bullpen held the Sox to 4 measly hits and a walk after. Meanwhile Brayan Bello (1-4, 9.12 ERA) has completely fallen apart, getting rocked for 4 runs in just 3 2/3 innings. The bullpen wasn't much better allowing 4 runs of their own. The Jays as a whole pounded out 10 hits and 8 runs as they took the game 8-1 at Fenway Park.
The Sox struck first in the top of the first inning against Lauer although Roman Anthony grounded out to second to start. Willson Contreras suddenly belted his 7th home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Wilyer Abreu got a base hit to left but Ceddanne Rafaela struck out swinging. Trevor Story flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Bello got the ball in the bottom of the first and Ernie Clement grounded out to short to start. Abreu made a leaping catch at the wall on a Jesus Sanchez fly ball but Vladimir Guerrero Jr singled in the hole at third. Kazuma Okamoto took strike three to end the inning.
Andrew Monasterio lined out to third to open the top of the second and Connor Wong flied out to center. Isiah Kiner-Falefa also flied out to center to end the inning. Daulton Varsho lined out to first to start the bottom of the second and Yohendrick Pinango flied out to right. Myles Straw popped up to second to end the inning.
Caleb Durbin flied out to center to start the top of the third and Anthony grounded out to first. Contreras flied out to left to end the inning. Bello imploded in the bottom of the third as Andres Gimenez struck out swinging to start. Brandon Valenzuela got a base hit to right but Clement flied out to right. Sanchez got a base hit to center and Guerrero Jr got a base hit to right to load the bases. Okamoto got a base hit to left to score Valenzuela & Sanchez, putting the Jays up for good. A wild pitch moved the runners over and Varsho walked to re-load the bases. Pinango singled to left to score Guerrero but Okamoto was thrown out at home to end the inning with the Jays up 3-1.
The Sox took the rest of the night off as Abreu walked to start the top of the fourth. Rafaela flied out to right and Story lined out to center. Abreu swiped second but Monasterio grounded out to second to end the inning. Sox manager Chad Tracy pulled an Alex Cora im the bottom of the fourth as Straw grounded out to third to start. Gimenez grounded out to first but Valenzuela walked. Rather than let Bello finish the inning, Tracy yanked him after just 63 pitches. Bello would be charged with 4 runs in 3 2/3 innings. Tracy summoned Greg Weissert and he did what hes done all year, give up a 2 run jack to Clement to put the game on ice. Sanchez grounded out to second to end the inning with the Jays ahead 5-1.
Wong flied out to center to start the top of the fifth but Kiner got a base hit to right. Somehow Durbin got a base hit to center and Anthony got a base hit to right to load the bases. Braydon Fisher was summoned to face Contreras and he hit a bullet....right to Gimenez who fired to second to double off Durbin to end the inning, of course. The Jays poured it on in the bottom of the fifth as Guerrero Jr singled to center to start. Okamoto took strike three and that was it fir Weissert. Jovan Moran came in and immediately hit Varsho with a pitch. George Springer pinch hit for Pinango and naturally got a base hit to center to score Guerrero, moving Varsho to third. Straw hit a sac fly to right to score Varsho and Gimenez popped up to short to end the inning with the Jays up 7-1.
Abreu was retired on a swinging bunt in front of the plate to start the top of the sixth. Rafaela struck out swinging but Story doubled to center. Monasterio flied out to right to end the inning. Valenzuela flied out to center to start the bottom of the sixth and Clement flied out to right. Sanchez also flied out to right to end the inning.
Tommy Nance came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Wong grounded out to short to start. Marcelo Mayer pinch hit for Kiner and got a base hit to center. Durbin grounded back to the mound to move Mayer to second and Joe Mantiply came in to face Anthony. Roman struck out swinging to end the inning. Guerrero Jr walked to start the bottom of the seventh but Okamoto flied out to right. Varsho lined out to center and Springer flied out to left to end the inning.
Contreras got a base hit to center to start the top of the eighth and Abreu singled to left to chase Mantiply. Spencer Miles got Rafaela to fly out to center but Story walked to load the bases. Jarren Duran pinch hit for Monasterio and naturally struck out swinging on a pitch 3 feet over his head. Wong grounded out to third to end the inning. The Jays wrapped up the scoring against Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock in the bottom of the eighth as Straw grounded out to short to start. Gimenez grounded out to first but Valenzuela hit a home run all the way to Calgary to increase the lead. Clement grounded out to third to end the inning with the Jays up 8-1.
Mayer grounded out to first to start the top of the ninth and Durbin struck out swinging. Anthony took 3 straight pitches right down the middle to end the game. The Jays had won it 8-1.
Jackass of The Night is Brayan Bello. He got rocked for 4 runs in 3 2/3 innings to put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of.
The Good:
Willson Contreras was 2 for 4 with a home run.
Wilyer Abreu was 2 for 3 with a walk.
Trevor Story was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa was 1 for 2.
Marcelo Mayer was 1 for 2.
The Bad:
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Andruw Monasterio was 0 for 3.
Jarren Duran struck out as a pinch hitter.
Connor Wong was 0 for 4.
Greg Weissert allowed 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning.
Garrett Whitlock allowed a run in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Roman Anthony was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Caleb Durbin was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jovani Moran allowed a run in 2 12/3 innings.
Final Thoughts:
So much for the "dead coach bounce" after Alex Cora was fired. The last two games the Sox returned to their inept offensive woes and habit of bringing in the wrong relief pitchers. Can't even blame Cora for this one, he's not here anymore. The bats damn near matched Toronto in the hits department but only pushed across one measly run. Bello once again stunk the joint out but so did the bullpen as well. Its becoming clear that the Red Sox are at a crossroads. They're a good offense away from 2018 and bad pitching away from last year's Colorado Rockies, and the last two games have been a step in the latter's direction. The season is only a month old and its been a colossal failure with everyone upset. Fans have had enough and to a man, the players look like they have no hope as well. The sad part is there's still 5 months left in the season and it will be torturous for sure. The loss dropped the Sox to 12-19, good for last place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox are back in action Friday night at home against the Houston Astros when Jake Bennett makes his ML debut for the Sox against Mike Burrows of Houston. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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