Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Connor Seabold was sent back to Worcester and 29 year old journeyman pitcher Silvino Bracho was called up to replace him. Bracho was a reliever for the Arizona Diamondbacks for years and signed as a minor league free agent before this season started. He may not even get into a game.
As for the game, oh boy here comes the talking heads in the Boston media. The Boston Red Sox blew their 15th save of the season and people are going to be talking about it for a while. Without their closer Tanner Houck (or their leadoff hitter Jarren Duran), the Sox dropped a tough game to the Toronto Blue Jays where they got walked off in the ninth. The Jays got to Sox starter Michael Wacha for four runs in the first three innings and Wacha was done after five innings. The Sox bats heroically battled back to rally from being down 4-1 to tie the game in the seventh on a Rob Refsnyder home run. Christian Vazquez knocked home Xander Bogaerts to give the Sox the lead in the top of the eighth but then not having Houck loomed large. John Schreiber pitched the seventh and Tyler Danish pitched the eighth so Sox manager Alex Cora decided Danish should stay in to close out the bottom of the ninth. Right on cue the Jays came alive to put the first two men on and Hansel Robles did the honors by allowing both of them to score. The Sox blew the game and second place in one fell swoop as the Jays walked off the Sox 6-5 at the Skydome.
This one is gonna hurt
Missed it by THAT much
Story hits one out
Jays add another run
Refsnyder drives in a run
Wacha only goes 5 innings
Refsnyder ties it up
Vazquez puts Boston on top
Jays win
Another blown save for the Jackass
Rob Refsnyder was 2 for 5 with 3 total rbis and a 2 run homer.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drew a walk.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Jays starter Ross Stripling got the ball in the top of the first inning and Rob Refsnyder got a base hit to right to start. The rally ended as Refsnyder was thrown out trying to steal on the called strike three on Rafael Devers. JD Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning. The Jays ended the game early against Wacha in the bottom of the first although George Springer popped up to first to start. Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr both walked before Teoscar Hernandez doubled to left to score Bichette. Lourdes Gurriel Jr grounded out to third but Matt Chapman smacked a double JUST over the glove of Alex Verdugo off the wall to score both runners. Santiago Espinal singled off the glove of Wacha but Gabriel Moreno flied out to right to end the inning with the Jays up big already 3-0 Toronto.
The Sox tried to fight back in the top of the second although Xander Bogaerts popped up to short to start. Raimel Tapia made a great diving catch to rob Alex Verdugo of a hit but Trevor Story belted his 12th home run of the season to cut the lead. Christian Vazquez struck out swinging to end the inning but the Sox were down 3-1.
Tapia walked to start the bottom of the second but Springer popped up to short. Bichette grounded out to second to move Tapia to second but Guerrero Jr lined out to center to end the inning.
Franchy Cordero flied out to left to start the top of the third but Christian Arroyo drew a walk. Refsnyder flied out to center and Devers flied out to right to end the inning. Hernandez flied out to center to start the bottom of the third but Gurriel Jr doubled to right. Chapman flied out to right to move Gurriel to third and he scored on the Espinal single to center. Moreno got a base hit to right to move Espinal to third but Tapia struck out swinging to end the inning with the Jays up 4-1.
The Sox rolled over in the top of the fourth as Martinez lined out to center to start. Bogaerts somehow got a double to left but could only move to third on the grounder to second by Verdugo. Story grounded out to short to end the inning. Springer grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fourth before Bichette lined out to center. Guerrero Jr grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fifth as Vazquez singled to center to start. Cordero doubled to right but Arroyo popped up to first. Refsnyder grounded out to second but Vazquez scored to cut the lead in half. Devers popped up to short to end the inning with the Sox down 4-2.
Wacha came back for one more inning in the bottom of the fifth and Hernandez singled in the hole at short to start. Gurriel Jr took strike three and Hernandez was foolishly doubled off first on a pop up to Vazquez by Chapman to end the inning. Wacha didn't have his best stuff as he allowed 4 runs in just 5 innings of work, forcing the bullpen to pitch the rest of the game.
Adam Cimber came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Martinez struck out swinging to begin. Bogaerts lined out to second but Verdugo got a base hit to left. Story lined out to center to end the inning. Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Espinal grounded out to short to start. Moreno flied out to center but Tapia singled to left. Tapia moved to third on a base hit to right by Springer and George swiped second. Bichette took strike three to end the inning.
The Sox fought back in the top of the seventh with Trent Thornton on the mound. Vazquez grounded out to short but Cordero drew a walk. Arroyo forced Franchy at second but Refsnyder smashed his second home run of the season to tie the game. Tim Mayza came in to pitch and Devers ripped a single to left. Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning but the Sox had tied the game 4-4.
John Schreiber came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh but Guerrero Jr beat out a roller to third to start. Hernandez struck out swinging and Gurriel Jr banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox rallied in the top of the eighth as Bogaerts walked to start. Verdugo singled to center but Story struck out swinging. Vazquez stepped up with a base hit to right to score Bogaerts with the go-ahead run. Matt Gage came in to pitch and Bobby Dalbec pinch hit for Cordero. Dalbec walked to load the bases but the play of the game came when Arroyo hot a rocket...right to Espinal who doubled off Vazquez to end the inning with the Sox ahead just 5-4.
Tyler Danish came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth with Jackie Bradley Jr taking over for Arroyo. Chapman flied out to right, Espinal struck out swinging and Moreno grounded out to second to end the inning.
Jordan Romano came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Refsnyder lined out to right to start. Devers walked but Martinez flied out to left. Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning. With Tanner Houck out for the series, Sox manager Alex Cora had no choice but to let Danish come back to close out the bottom of the ninth. As expected, Alejandro Kirk pinch hot for Tapia and effortlessly singled to left. Bradley Zimmer ran for Kirk and Springer walked on 5 pitches not even close. Cora threw the towel in by sending in Hansel Robles to pitch to Bichette and Bo laughed as he ripped a base hit to right to score Zimmer to tie the game. Guerero Jr ended matters with a base hit to left to score Springer to end the game. The entire world saw this coming with no closer as the Jays won it 6-5.
Jackass of the Night is Hansel Robles. He allowed the tying and winning runs to score in the bottom of the ninth.
The Good:
Rob Refsnyder was 2 for 5 with 3 total rbis and a 2 run homer.
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 4.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Franchy Cordero was 1 for 2 with a walk.
Bobby Dalbec walked as a pinch hitter.
John Schreiber pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Michael Wacha was hammered for 4 runs in just 5 innings of work.
Tyler Danish took the loss by being charged with the winning runs in the ninth.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drew a walk.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Trevor Story was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but the one hit was a home run.
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 3 but walked and scored a run.
Honorable Mention:
Jackie Bradley Jr played centerfield in the final two innings.
Final Thoughts:
There's a lot to be said about this game and a lot of fingers are being pointed. While its a shame that Houck isn't pitching this series, putting this entirely on him is asinine. The Sox had plenty of chances to score more runs and the Sox pitchers could have stepped up tonight. Sox manager Alex Cora deserves some of the blame by using Schreiber in the seventh and trying to squeeze two innings out of Tyler Danish. It wasn't even Danish that allowed the final two hits, Robles should have been able to get the job done or at least come in to start the inning. All this stresses the importance of one more experienced bullpen arm to this team. With Chris Sale and Josh Taylor close to returning, the answer may come sooner rather than later. The Sox have the whole month of July and their death march through the AL East before they can gauge if they will be sellers or buyers at the trade deadline. Fans and media pundits alike are bringing up this loss and this series of Boston's inability to beat AL East teams and its tough to ignore the hate now. The Sox need to win tomorrow night BADLY if they want to shut some of these people up. The loss dropped the Sox to 42-33, 1/2 game behind the Jays for the first wild card spot. The Sox look to avoid a sweep tomorrow night when they send Nick Pivetta (8-5) to the mound up against Alek Manoah of Toronto. The game begins at 7:07 PM at the Skydome.
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