Drabek got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to third to start. Dustin Pedroia took strike three on the outside corner and Adrian Gonzalez hit a looper to Brett Lawrie to end the inning. The Jays wasted no time getting to Bard in the bottom of the first as Yunel Escobar dropped a base hit to left on the first pitch. Kelly Johnson popped up to Nick Punto and Jose Bautista flied out to right. Adam Lind doubled just inside the third base line and Edwin Encarnacion scored Escobar with a shot to short that Punto couldn't handle. Edwin swiped second but Lawrie struck out swinging to end the inning with the Jays up 1-0.
David Ortiz led off the top of the second by striking out swinging to start. Kevin Youkilis doubled off the top of the right field wall and Ryan Sweeney walked. Cody Ross struck out swinging on a high fastball and Jarrod Saltalamaccchia took strike three to end the inning. Bard settled down in the bottom of the second as Eric Thames grounded out to short to start. JP Arencibia whiffed on an 83 mph slider and Rasmus grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third as Punto popped up to center to start. Ellsbury grounded out to second and Pedroia grounded out to short to end the inning. The Jays struck again in the bottom of the third as Escobar flared a base hit to center to start. Johnson singled past Pedroia but Bautista whiffed on a 97 mph fastball. Lind singled up the middle to score Escobar and Sox pitching coach Bob McClure sprinted to the mound to tell Bard to throw strikes. Encarnacion flied out to center but Lawrie chopped a base hit to right. Johnson came around to score with Sweeney's throw too late to increase the lead. Thames went around for strike three to end the inning with the Jays ahead 3-0.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Gonzalez grounded out to third to start. Ortiz flied out to left and Youkilis grounded out to short to end the inning. Bard got Arencibia to ground out to third to begin the bottom of the fourth before Rasmus flied out to left. Escobar took strike three to end the inning.
Sweeney grounded out to second to start the top of the fifth but Ross doubled off the left field wall. Saltalmacchia lined out to Bautista and Punto popped up to short to end the inning. Bard cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Pedroia made a great diving catch to rob Johnson of a hit to start. Bautista struck out swinging and Lind grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox finally got to Drabek in the top of the sixth as Ellsbury walked to start. Pedroia smashed a double to center and Ellsbury scored on the sac fly by Gonzalez. Ortiz walked to chase Drabek as Jason Frasor came in to pitch to Youkilis. Youk banged into a double play to end the inning but the Sox were down 3-1.
Bard ran out of gas in the bottom of the sixth as Encarncion walked to start the bottom of the frame. Encarnacion stole second and took third on the infield single to short by Lawrie. That was it for Bard who was lifted after 96 pitches in 5 innings of work. Justin Thomas came in to pour gas on the fire as Lawrie stole second and Thames walked to load the bases. Arencibia lashed a base hit up the middle to score Encarnacion and Lawrie to break the game open. Thames moved to third on the hit and he scored on the Rasmus sac fly to ice the game. Arencibia moved to second on the grounder to short by Escobar and Johnson grounded out to first to end the inning with the Jays ahead 6-1.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the seventh when Sweeney doubled to the left field wall to begin. Ross took strike three but Saltalmacchia walked. Punto flied out to left and Jays manager John Farrell brought in Luis Perez to pitch to Ellsbury. Ellsbury popped up to Escobar to end the inning. Michael Bowden came in to get tagged in the bottom of the seventh as Bautista struck out swinging to start. Lind popped up to Punto but Encarnacion hit one all the way to Hamilton, Ontario to increase the lead. Lawrie grounded out to short to end the inning with the Jays up 7-1.
The Sox blew another rally in the top of the eighth as Pedroia beat out a roller to third base to start. Gonzalez flied out to center and Ortiz flied out to the left field warning track, but Youkilis grounded a base hit up the middle. Sweeney struck out swinging to put the Sox 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position as the inning ended. Bowden returned for the bottom of the eighth and Thames hit a grounder right back to him. Bowden threw wide of first but it was ruled a hit. Arencibia took a 92 mph fastball on the outside corner for strike three before Rasmus went down hacking at an 86 mph slider. Escobar flied out to center to end the inning.
Casey Jannsen came in to close out the top of the ninth and things looked bleak when Ross struck out swinging to start. Saltlamacchia struck out swinging but Punto chopped a seeing eye single into right for a base hit. Ellsbury drew a walk and Pedroia lashed a base hit to left to load the bases. Gonzalez ripped a ground rule double down the right field line to score Punto and Ellsbury to cut the lead. Ortiz took a 92 mph fastball down the middle for strike three to end the game. The Jays had held on to win the game 7-3.
Jackass of the Night is Justin Thomas. Thomas turned a 3-1 game into 6-1 by allowing 2 inherited runners to score and one of his own in the sixth inning.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5.
Kevin Youkilis was 2 for 4.
Ryan Sweeney was 1 for 3 with a walk.
The Bad:
Daniel Bard was charged with 5 runs in 5 plus innings to take the loss. He allowed 8 hits and a walk while striking out 6.
The Ugly:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 0 for 3 but walked twice and scored two runs.
Adrian Gonzalez was just 1 for 4 but drove in 3 runs.
David Ortiz was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Cody Ross was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of three strikeouts.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Nick Punto was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Michael Bowden served up a home run to Encarnacion in two innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
Its as if 2011 never ended it seems for the Red Sox. They went 7-20 last September and have lost 4 of the first 5 games they've played this season. Daniel Bard was supposed to be stretched out to be a starter but he ran out of gas in the 6th inning. Then again he threw damn near 100 pitches just to get to that point, hopefully he can get some better control as the year goes on. The offense once again did nothing until it was too late and Carl Crawford being out hurts, but he's not THAT important. There's no reason why perennial MVP candidates like Gonzalez, Ortiz, Ellsbury and Pedroia can't combine with Youkilis and Ross to create a power lineup. There were rumors that Sox manager Bobby Valentine wasn't getting along with the team but it can't be THAT bad can it? All in all the Sox look just as lifeless as they did in September and you can't blame Terry Francona or Theo Epstein anymore. The Sox have all season to turn things around so this is no time to panic. The Sox look to take the rubber game of the series tomorrow afternoon when Jon Lester gets the start for Boston against Ricky Romero of the Blue Jays. The game begins at 12:30 PM at the Skydome.
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