The curious September of Chris Sale continued Tuesday night. Six days after tossing eight shutout innings and striking out 13, Sale was hammered for four homers and five runs in five innings as the Red Sox dropped their second straight, 9-4, to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Coupled with the Yankees’ win, the Red Sox lead in the East was cut to three games with five games remaining.
Sale recorded five strikeouts through the first two innings, but he allowed a second homer in the span of three innings in the third to Josh Donaldson and came unglued in fifth, with a solo homer yielded to Teoscar Hernandez and a two-run shot to Kendrys Morales.
It marked the fourth time in the last eight starts that Sale had given up multiple homers in the same outing.
The two teams exchanged multi-inning runs in the eighth with the Jays scoring four off Heath Hembree and Joe Kelly and the Sox responding with three of their own, led by a solo homer from Sandy Leon.
The first Red Sox run of the night came after just two batters. Following a leadoff infield single by Xander Bogaerts, Chris Young doubled off The Wall to score him. The Sox didn’t get another baserunner off Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ until the sixth.
GAME NO.: 157
WHO: Red Sox (91-65) vs Toronto Blue Jays (74-83)
WHEN: 7:10
WHERE: Fenway Park
RADIO: WEEI (93.7 FM)
TV: NESN
PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (17-7, 2.75) vs. LHP J.A. Happ (9-11, 3.64)
BOX SCORE: MLB Gameday
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
- The same pattern continues for Chris Sale: one good start followed by one bad. One start after Sale tossed eight shutout innings and fanned 13, he was tagged for four homers and lasted just five innings tonight, allowing eight hard-hit hits and five runs. It's hard to suggest -- as some would -- that this is the result of going back out for 12 pitches in the eighth inning. Sale, after all, had an extra day of rest, which is one of the reasons John Farrell was OK with him going out for the eighth in Baltimore. More troubling is the penchant for the long ball over the last month and a half. In his last eight starts, Sale has allowed no homers in four starts...and multiple homers in the other four.
- Jackie Bradley Jr. is suddenly in the throes of one of his periodic slumps. He was 5-for-33 (.152) on the recently completed road trip and is 0-for-5 with three strikeouts on the homestand so far. Moreover, Bradley is hitless (0-for-21) against lefties this month.
- The news was mostly encouraging for Mookie Betts and Eduardo Nunez Tuesday, a day after the former left the game with a left wrist injury while the latter aggravating an already sprained ligament in his right knee. Betts underwent a CT-scan which revealed nothing more than inflammation. "There's no structural damage of any kind,'' said John Farrell. "He's day-to-day. We hope that he's back to us in a short period of time.'' As for Nunez, he got his spike caught in the dirt near home plate during a third-inning at-bat and came out of the game. "He's got a day of no-baseball activity -- strictly rehab and strengthening of the quad area to support (the knee),'' said Farrell. "There's no real timeline yet for his return.'' Betts should be back in the lineup in the next day or so, but it may be the weekend before Nunez is cleared. "As the intensity climbs, that will be the biggest test,'' said Farrell.
- Dustin Pedroia, meanwhile, was out of the lineup for the second straight day, still dealing with inflammation in the left knee. "He's still dealing with a little bit of swelling,'' said Farrell. "Our approach with Pedey has been to get him as best possible we can for the remaining games, to have him the most fresh and capable once we get to the next stage (playoffs).''
- Chris Young was in the lineup for the second straight game against a lefty starter, as Farrell tries desperately to get him going against lefties. Young may be a longshot to make the post-season roster unless he can show something in the final week. For the season, he's hitting just .186 (18-for-97) with a homer and four RBI against lefthanders this season. "We felt like these were two games where those opportunities present themselves,'' Farrell said. "You're looking to put guys in a position where they've had a lot of success in the past. We recognize the reverse to the splits this year. We're trying to find the best combination available to us to attack lefthanders. We felt this was the spot for Chris; we'll see where it goes from here.''
- Andrew Benintendi has struggled at times with lefties this year and was hitting just .241 with a homer and nine RBI heading into Tuesday. But Farrell said he had enough confidence in Benintendi would be in the lineup against lefties in the playoffs.
- Farrell also confirmed that Mitch Moreland would be the Red Sox first baseman in the post-season against righthanded starters. Should Nunez be available and healthy, that would seem to limit opportunities for Hanley Ramirez in the playoffs.