Red Sox Bullpen Implodes; Blue Jays Take Game Three Of Series

Up through the seventh inning, this was looking like a well-played game that the Red Sox may wind up pulling out. However, that all changed when Jose Bautista lifted a monster home run to left-center field; a two-run shot, his second of the day, that proved the key blow in what had been a tight ballgame. A seemingly mediocre starting pitching matchup between Esmil Rogers (3-3, 3.46) and Felix Doubront (4-3, 4.38) proved to be a good one, as the pair dueled through the better part of the ballgame until the bullpens got involved.

Jun 29, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Felix Doubront (22) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Felix Doubront struggled with his control early on, and wound up allowing an RBI single to Adam Lind which gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead in the first inning. However, he would be razor sharp for most of the rest of the ballgame. The only other issue that Doubront would have would be serving up a bomb to Jose Bautista, and that can hardly be criticized with Bautista’s raw power.

The Red Sox offense, however, was not quite so fun to watch as Doubront, who wound up going 6.1 innings and allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. They certainly had their chances, but a pair of rallies were squandered with runners being thrown out at the plate in both the sixth and seventh innings. It wasn’t until the seventh that the Red Sox finally broke out.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia reached base to begin the frame, and things were looking good after a successful push bunt by Jose Iglesias moved Saltalamacchia not only to second, but to third on an error. However, a questionable safety squeeze attempt by Jonathan Diaz, making his MLB debut resulted in Saltalamacchia being thrown out at home by pitcher Darren Oliver. However, singles by Jacoby Ellsbury made sure that the Red Sox got something out of the inning, as Victorino’s two-run single tied the game at 2-2 at the time.

However, an overworked Red Sox bullpen immediately got to work on giving those runs back. Jose Reyes singled to start the eighth and Jose Bautista crushed a two-run homer to make it 4-2. Tazawa finished out the inning giving up only those runs, but they certainly hurt. The Jays got right back to work in the ninth, scoring a pair of runs off of Craig Breslow to make it 6-2. Eventually, a once optimistic game turned into a fairly pessimistic one.