Since the Toronto Blue Jays came to town, the Boston Red Sox haven't looked like the same team that claimed two series wins the week before.
Toronto's pitchers and freezing temperatures have stymied Boston's bats, but Jeff Hoffman took the dominance to a new level on April 9. He entered the ninth inning of a 1-1 game off the back of a stellar 10-strikeout performance from Kevin Gausman and got to work.
The righty faced seven batters in his two innings of work, and the only Red Sox to get on base was intentionally walked. Hoffman's pitches zipped around Boston's bats as he collected three strikeouts to set his team up to take the victory in 11 innings.
After each of Hoffman's inning-ending strikeouts, he flexed and screamed as he walked off the mound, rubbing salt in the Sox's wounds. The Red Sox lead MLB in strikeouts again, as they did for parts of last season, with 126 in 13 games, and Hoffman's attitude on the 14-strikeout night made the record even more brutal. Boston wasn't even striking out on tough pitches — the vast majority of its strikeouts came against Gausman's four-seamer.
Red Sox take offense to Jeff Hoffman's celebrating on home field, be more aggressive at the plate in Blue Jays series finale
JEFF "NAILS" HOFFMAN pic.twitter.com/woPtm3AZGh
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 10, 2025
Gausman and Hoffman rendered the Red Sox unable to collect a series win against their division rival, but they can stave off a sweep with a win on April 10. They'll need to fan significantly fewer times to pull it off — luckily, the weather is warming up and they've reached the back end of Toronto's rotation.
The top of the Sox's order got off to a slow start this season, but they raked against the Cardinals at the beginning of their homestand. Jarren Duran, Rafael Devers, Alex Bregman and Triston Casas combined for 19 hits in their three-game series against St. Louis, but they've been held to eight knocks against Toronto. Even the red-hot Wilyer Abreu has been held hitless by the Jays' pitchers.
“At one point you’ve got to spread out and put the ball in play, that’s the bottom line,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, per Mac Cerullo of The Boston Herald. “You can take the strikeouts, I get it, but there are certain situations we have to move the ball forward and we cannot fall into this pattern of striking out 12 times, 10 times, 12 times, because we’re better than that and everyone knows it.”
Cold weather and great pitching aren't an excuse for a 14-strikeout night — Toronto played in the same conditions and faced an excellent performance from Tanner Houck, but it only fanned four times. The Red Sox need to be smarter at the plate if they hope to succeed in the American League East and keep opposing pitchers from dominating and flexing on their home field.