Sox Shut Out 5-0, Can’t Sweep Jays In Toronto
By Conor Duffy
Today’s loss to the Blue Jays closed out a surprisingly un-painful series in Toronto. As we headed into this series, the Red Sox were 5-10 against the Blue Jays on the season and with the Sox in a tailspin, things didn’t look bright. However, they won the first two games of this series and entered the third today with an intriguing pitching matchup of a rejuvenated Jon Lester (9-11, 4.99) and Brandon Morrow (8-6, 2.98), who was coming off an injury after a stellar start to the season.
Apr 11, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester (31) delivers a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE
That pitching matchup came directly into play for the first several innings of this game. Neither team had scored yet, and the Blue Jays didn’t even reach the hit column until Omar Vizquel‘s double in the third. Despite a few rallies, particularly on the Boston side, neither team had the key hit and the game was still tied at 0-0 as we entered the bottom of the seventh.
The seventh inning was when the Blue Jays pounced on a tiring Jon Lester, starting with a two out single by Yan Gomes. Rajai Davis came in to pinch-run for Gomes and promptly stole second base. He would score the first run of the game on a single up the middle by Omar Vizquel. However, the true damage came when Adeiny Hechavarria got ahold of a Jon Lester fastball and sent it into the bleachers for a two-run homer to make it 3-0. The two runs that the Jays got in the eighth (RBI singles for Colby Rasmus and Moises Sierra) were just icing on the cake as the Blue Jays avoided a sweep at home.