Red Sox Recap: Blue Jays Beat Boston In 11 Innings

The Toronto Blue Jays continue to stir the pot in the American League East division, while the Boston Red Sox continue to lose. This time, today in Fenway Park, it took extra innings for the Blue Jays to surpass the Red Sox, on a home run by catcher Russell Martin.

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In front of over 37 000 people, the Red Sox had starting pitcher Clay Buchholz up against Toronto’s knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey. The weather was beautiful, but the clouds of continuous losses plagued over the heads of the Fenway faithful.

The night before, the Blue Jays absolutely pumped the Red Sox for runs in the seventh inning to win the series opener. The trend continued in the top of the second inning, as Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar singled to left field and scored Edwin Encarnacion. Toronto’s second baseman Ryan Goins followed that up with a single to center field, which cashed in Chris Colabello and Martin.

The Blue Jays stretched that lead in the top of the fourth inning, as shortstop Jose Reyes hit a single to left field to score Pillar. The lead was 4-0, as Red Sox Nation groaned with displeasure. Another Buchholz outing that looked assuredly to be a future loss.

But wait! Dickey is on the mound. He’s terrible in away games (0-4, 6.17 ERA) and horrendous in parks with actual grass (0-3, 5.04 ERA). The Red Sox still had a shot.

Boston must have felt the same way, as the team started mounting a comeback in the bottom of the fourth inning. Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit a single to right field, scoring Hanley Ramirez, who had last night off after the Baltimore Orioles series ended. Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval followed that up with a single to center field, which cashed in David Ortiz and Bogaerts. The lead was 4-3. Maybe the Red Sox could pull off the victory.

Ortiz, doing what he does best from the designated hitter role, helped that thought along. He smashed a solo blast over the right field fence to tie the game, in the bottom of the sixth inning.

After both bullpens took over for their starters, the game was pretty much a back-and-forth affair. Not much offense was happening.

Then, in the top of the eleventh inning, Martin led off with a solo shot off of Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes to center field. Even though the next three batters grounded out to the shortstop, the damage had been done. Blue Jays closer Brett Cecil made quick work of the next three Red Sox batters and earned his fourth save of the season, as Toronto won the game, 5-4.

Game Notes:

Sandoval left the game in the top of the seventh inning, due to an injured leg. Before the injury, he went 2-for-3, with two RBIs and a strikeout, bringing his batting average to .251. Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson went 0-for-5, but his batting average only went down to .316.
Dickey went 6.0 innings, allowing three earned runs, four in total, on six hits, a walk, and five strikeouts. Buchholz went 6.0 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits, a walk, and seven strikeouts. A draw between the starters, today.
Blue Jays reliever Aaron Loup earned the victory, even though he pitched only two-thirds of an inning. Liam Hendricks took over for Dickey in the seventh inning, allowing only three hits. Steve Delabar, Loup, and Cecil did not allow a hit. Apparently, Toronto’s bullpen can handle pressure.
Boston went 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and they left seven men on base.
Ramirez went 2-for-5, with a run scored and a strikeout, after having the night off.

Grades:

STARTING PITCHING . C+. . Game Ball. Clay Buchholz

Giving up four runs is never a good thing. Yet,

Joe Kelly

got a B-, yesterday, so maybe we can’t judge Buchholz too harshly. But, Kelly’s runs were at the point when the Red Sox still had an 8-4 lead. Buchholz put the Red Sox in the hole, trying to dig themselves out of it, which they eventually did. He threw 105 pitches, 72 being strikes. It wasn’t a great performance, but it did keep the Red Sox in the game long enough for the bats to wake up and realize that they were playing against Dickey.

. Game Ball. Matt Barnes. RELIEF PITCHING . D+

Just like the last recap, this game ball is for the biggest loser, instead of a winning or dominating player. In his last two appearances, Barnes has allowed four earned runs, where he couldn’t even earn an out, last night. Today, he pitched two innings, giving up the go-ahead home run that won the game for the Blue Jays. He gave up two hits: the same amount of hits that

Tommy Layne

Alexi Ogando

, and

Koji Uehara

combined for in three innings. The grade does not apply to them, except that it would be a failing grade if they didn’t play as well as they did, before Barnes blew it.

B-. . Game Ball. Pablo Sandoval. OFFENSE

Fitting that the best player at the plate for the Red Sox is a man who injures his leg in that same game. He had the most success on a team that hit nine times for four runs. Not much in the way of baserunners today, but at least they had nine people in scoring position. Now, if they can find more than one person, per game, who can cash those runners in, next time.

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