Wilmer Font effortlessly retired the Sox in the top of the first inning. Brock "The Hitman" Holt hit a puny fly out to left to start before Xander Bogaerts hit a weak grounder to third. Rafael Devers got a lucky single to left but JD Martinez popped up to right to end the inning. Bobby Poyner got the start for Boston and got Bo Bichette to line out to second to start. Cavan Biggio popped up to third and Vladimir Guerrero Jr popped up to second to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second as Mitch Moreland went down swinging to begin. Andrew Benintendi popped up to third before Christian Vazquez reached on an error by Bichette. Vazquez swiped second but Jackie Bradley Jr struck out swinging to end the inning. Rowdy "Roddy" Tellez whiffed to start the bottom of the second before Randal Grichuk flied out to center. Teoscar Hernandez swung at air to end the inning.
Trent Thornton came in for the Jays and blinded the Sox in the top of the third inning. Marco Hernandez lined out to center to start before Holt whiffed. Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. Trevor Kelley came in for the bottom of the third and Jonathan Davis flied out to center to begin. Brandon Drury whiffed and Danny Jansen struck out swinging to end the inning.
Martinez whiffed to start the top of the fourth before Moreland flied out to center. Benintendi grounded out to second to end the inning. The Jays broke through in the bottom of the fourth although Bichette struck out swinging to start. Biggio doubled, stole third and scored on the Guerrero Jr sac fly. Tellez continued to haunt the Sox with a solo home run to increase the lead. Grichuk singled to chase Kelley. Ryan Weber came in and Hernandes hit a single to right. Holt picked the ball up and threw it into the Jays bullpen for an error to move the runners over. Davis grounded back to the mound to end the inning but it was 2-0 Toronto.
As usual when the Sox fell behind, they stopped trying. Vazquez grounded out to third to start the top of the fifth before JBJ whiffed badly. Hernandez also struck out swinging to end the inning. The Jays iced the game in the bottom of the fifth although Drury flied out to right to begin. Jansen, Bichette and Biggio all singled to load the bases before Guerrero knocked in two runs with a single that he stretched into a double. Goodnight Weber as Brian Johnson came in to get Tellez to pop up to short. One and done for Johnson as Travis Lakins came in just for Grichuk to double home both runners. Hernandez then blasted a 20,000 foot home run to wrap up the scoring. Davis took strike three but the Jays had a commanding 8-0 lead.
The top of the sixth came and went as Holt flied out to center to begin. Bogaerts grounded out to second and Devers lined out to left to end the inning. Juan Centeno came in to catch the bottom of the sixth with Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez now on the mound. Drury walked and Jansen singled but Bichette banged into a double play. Biggio walked but Guerrero Jr popped up to second to end the inning.
Nothing happened in the top of the seventh as Martinez whiffed to start. Moreland grounded out to second and Benintendi whiffed to end the inning. Sam Travis took over for Moreland with Mike Shawaryn on the mound for the bottom of the seventh. Tellez whiffed, Grichuk flied out to left and Hernandez was retired on a squibber in front of the mound to end the inning.
Anthony Alford took over for Grichuk with Jason Adam now on the mound for the top of the eighth. Centeno popped up to third to start before JBJ grounded out to first. Hernandez flied out to right to end the inning. Chris Owings took over at short for the bottom of the eighth and Davis struck out swinging to start. Drury walked but Jansen hit into a double play to end the inning.
Ryan Tepera came in to close out the top of the ninth and Holt greeted him with a single. Owings forced Holt at second and he was forced at second by Devers. Gorkys Hernandez pinch ran for Devers but Martinez grounded into a force to end the game. The Jays had shut out the Sox 8-0.
Jackass of the Night is Travis Lakins. Not that the Sox were gonna score any runs but he allowed 2 inherited runners to score and a two run home run in short order.
The Good:
Bobby Poyner tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Brian Johnson retired the only man he faced.
Hector Velazquez pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Mike Shawaryn tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Chris Owings was 0 for 1.
JD Martinez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Trevor Kelley gave up 2 runs in 1 2/3 innings.
Ryan Weber was charged with 4 runs in just 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Brock Holt was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 2 but walked.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 2.
Juan Centeno was 0 for 1.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Marco Hernandez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Honorable Mention:
Gorkys Hernandez pinch ran for Devers in the top of the ninth.
Sam Travis played first base in the later innings.
Final Thoughts:
Thankfully there are only 16 games left because this is a torture test at this point. The Red Sox are a team that's clearly given up from up top all the way on down. Alex Cora taking out the starters at the first sign of trouble, bullpen games, the offense regressing and failing to come back again and again. This is far worse than 2014 because that season was over at the trade deadline, this team had the unmitigated audacity to play mediocre in August to keep interest long enough before the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays made their runs. The loss dropped the Sox to 76-70, too many games out of first place in the AL East. Tomorrow is yet another bullpen game as Jhoulys Chacin is the sacrificial lamb against old friend Clay Buchholz at 7:05 PM at the Skydome.
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