It was over early as the Toronto Blue Jays bombed Jon Lester for seven runs in his first two innings of work and cruised to a 7-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on a grey afternoon at Fenway Park.
The weather matched the mood at the lyric little bandbox, one that has seen six consecutive Red Sox losses (the first time the club has dropped six straight at Fenway since Butch Hobson‘s tenure) and seven overall. The Sox plunged to 20-26, five games behind the Jays in the AL East.
Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista knocked back-to-back homers in the first inning and the Jays nearly batted around in the second, tacking on five more runs.
The Red Sox did make two early tallies against Blue Jays starter Mark Buerhle (8-1), as a Jonny Gomes single in the bottom of the first plated Dustin Pedroia, who’d led off with a double. In the bottom of the second, Xander Bogaerts hit a laser off Buerhle, but that was the extent of the damage. The veteran lefty held the Sox scoreless over his last five frames and became the first pitcher in the Majors to eight wins. Lester (4-6) likewise cleaned up his act, but it was too late.
The Red Sox head to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg for the first of a three game set with the Tampa Bay Rays, who are the only thing separating the Red Sox from the AL East cellar. John Lackey (5-3, 4.01) looks to stop the slide against Chris Archer (3-2, 4.59).