As for the game, what a complete disaster. The Red Sox came to Florida to play the Toronto Blue Jays and got their brains beat in by a relentless offensive attack. Eduardo Rodriguez (5-2, 4.70 ERA) got hammered for 5 runs in 5 innings as Toronto pounded out EIGHTEEN hits and 8 total runs. Meanwhile Hyun Jin Ryu of the Blue Jays held the Sox to just 4 total hits and no runs. The AL East is wide open this year and Toronto sent a message that they want first place by blanking the Sox 8-0 at TD Ballpark. How many runs did the Sox score Dean Wormer?
Ryu got the ball to start the top of the first and Kike Hernandez made his return from the Injured List by striking out swinging. Alex Verdugo singled to center but JD Martinez flied out to right. Xander Bogaerts took strike three to end the inning. Rodriguez got the ball in the bottom of the first and Marcus Semien singled to center to begin. Bo Bichette struck out swinging but Semien moved to second on the Vladimir Guerrero Jr grounder to short. A passed ball moved Semien to third but Teoscar Hernandez flied out to right to end the inning.
Rafael Devers took strike three to start the top of the second before Christian Vazquez grounded out to short. Hunter Renfroe grounded out to third to end the inning. The Jays struck first in the bottom of the second as Randal Grichuk effortlessly doubled to left to start. Lourdes Gurriel Jr took strike three but Cavan Biggio singled to left to move Grichuk to third. Santiago Espinal lined out to short but Danny Jansen singled to right to score Grichuk. Semien struck out swinging to end the inning but it was 1-0 Toronto.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the third as Marwin Gonzalez grounded back to the mound to start. Bobby Dalbec struck out swinging and Hernandez grounded out to third to end the inning. Bichette struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third but Guerrero Jr singled to right. Hernandez singled to center but Grichuk banged into a double play to end the inning.
Verdugo doubled to right to start the top of the fourth but Martinez grounded out to third but Bogaerts singled Alex to third. Devers popped up to short and Vazquez flied out to left to end the inning. That was the esentially the Sox last chance to do anything in the game. The Jays iced the game in the bottom of the fourth as Gurriel Jr doubled to right to begin. Biggio flied out to left and Espinal struck out swinging but Jansen walked. Semien singled to right and Renfroe picked the ball up and heaved it 100 feet in the air and catching it in his hat for an error. Gurriel Jr and Jansen scored on the play and Bichette doubled home Semien to increase the lead. Guerrero Jr popped up to second to end the inning with the Jays ahead 4-0.
Renfroe tried to redeem himself in the top of the fifth with a base hit to right but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. Gonzalez grounded out to third and Dalbec grounded out to short to end the inning. The Jays tagged E-Rod in the bottom of the fifth as Hernandez doubled to center to start. Grichuk grounded out to short but Gurriel Jr singled home Hernandez to increase the lead. Biggio took strike three and Espinal popped up to short to end the inning with the Jays up 5-0. That was it for E-Rod who tossed a stinker, allowing 5 runs in 5 innings.
Bichette booted a grounder by Hernandez to start the top of the sixth but Verdugo struck out swinging. Martinez flied out to right and Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning. Matt Andriese got tagged in the bottom of the sixth as Jansen grouynded out to short to start. Semien struck out swinging but Bichette walked. Guerrero Jr singled to right and Hernandez singled home Bichette to add to the lead. Gricuk lined out to left to end the inning with the Jays ahead 6-0.
Ryu returned for one last inning in the top of the seventh as Devers grounded out to third to start. Vazquez grounded out to third and Renfroe struck out swinging to end the inning. The Jays were finally held scoreless in the bottom of the seventh as Gurriel Jr struck out swinging to begin. Biggio grounded out to first but Espinal singled to right. Jansen singled to left but Semien grounded out to third to end the inning.
Travis Bergen came in for the top of the eighth and Gonzalez grounded out to short to begin. Dalbec walked and Hernandez beat out an infield single to short, but Verdugo took strike three. Tyler Chatwood came in to face Martinez and JD grounded out to second to end the inning. The Jays got one last runin the bottom of the eighth as Bichette flied out to right to start. Guerrero Jr doubled to center but Hernandez grounded out to third. Grichuk hit a home run into the Atlantic Ocean to wrap up the scoring. Guerriel Jr singled to center but Biggio took strike three to end the inning with the Jays up 8-0.
Rafael Dolis came in to close out the top of the ninth and Bogaerts reached on an error by Espinal to start. Devers struck out swinging but Vazquez walked. Renfroe struck out swinging and Gonzalez took strike three to end the game. The Jays had won it 8-0.
Jackass of the Night is Eduardo Rodriguez. Not that the Sox were going to score any runs for him, but he put them in a hole too big to climb out of by allowing 5 runs in 5 innings.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 4.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 4.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Matt Andriese allowed 3 runs in 3 innings.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 but walked.
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and an error.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 2 with a strikeout but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Guess the Red Sox took the night off based on the way they played. Throwing errors, no offense and bad pitching led to an all around bawful game. The Sox are going to have nights like these during the season but this one was a case of bad timing. Not only the Jays but the New York Yankees are breathing down their necks. The Sox need to go on a nice winning streak to put some distance between them and the other teams in the AL East but just like 2019, they may not have the personnel for that. Rodriguez looked terrible for the second straight game and his lack of velocity is starting to rear its ugly head. He may regain it but right now he's batting practice. Give credit to Ryu for a well pitched game and the Jays for hitting anything that was thrown at them, hopefully tomorrow will be different. The loss dropped the Sox to 25-18, 1 game ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow evening Garrett Richards (3-2) looks to rebound the Sox against Ross Stripling of the Jays. The game begins at 6:30 PM at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida.
No comments:
Post a Comment