TORONTO -- All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 8-4 loss to the Blue Jays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight.
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Mookie's cycle the lone high point of loss: In the innings of Thursday's loss, there was one compelling reason to keep watching the Red Sox: the chance for Mookie Betts, who had already singled, tripled and doubled, to homer and become the first Red Sox player in three years -- teammate Brock Holt was the last -- to hit for the cycle. Sure enough, with one out in the ninth and the Sox trailing by four, Betts powered a fastball out to left, making him the 21st player in franchise history to accomplish the feat. He's also only the second to do it in the last 22 seasons, and the first to do it in a losing effort since Carl Yastrzemski in 1965. It also gave him his fifth four-hit game of the season.
Porcello can't continue momentum: Last Friday, Rick Porcello pitched what was probably the finest start of his career, tossing a complete-game one-hitter against the Yankees, and doing so with terrific command and efficiency. That was not the same Porcello on display Thursday at Rogers Centre. Porcello walked the first two hitters he faced, twice gave back leads a half inning after they were given to him, and was gone before recording an out in the fifth inning. "Obviously, I didn't have the command that I wanted,'' said Porcello, charged with seven runs in four-plus innings. Then again, maybe this wasn't totally unexpected: in four starts against the Blue Jays this season, Porcello has a 9.15 ERA is 1-2. He's given up more homers (26) to Toronto than any other franchise. "I don't know what it is about their lineup,'' he said, "but they do a nice job against me. They make me get in the strike zone, they draw some walks and then they do damage. I've got to figure something out against these guys to overcome that.''
Martinez keeps mashing: As usual, the Sox got plenty from their 1-2 punch of Betts and J.D. Martinez. While Betts was making history by hitting for the cycle, Martinez smashed a solo homer, giving him 35 -- most in the majors -- and lifting his RBI total to 99, also the most in the game. Martinez extended his hitting streak to eight games, during which he's hitting .438 (14-for-32) with nine extra-base hits in that span to go along with 10 RBI. Martinez is on pace to reach the century mark in RBI before the middle of August.
TURNING POINT
It appeared as though the Red Sox had regained their equilibrium a bit when they rallied from being down 4-2 to score two runs in the top of the fifth to tie it at 4-4. Given the quality of their lineup and the struggles of the Blue Jays bullpen, they looked to be in good position to pull this one out. But the tie didn't last for long -- Porcello gave it back and then some within three hitters in the bottom of the inning and the Jays never trailed again after that point. "Our guys battled hard to get back into the ballgame,'' said Porcello, "and then I go right back out there and give them three the next inning. That's not what I wanted to do and we lost the game because of it.''
TWO UP
Tyler Thornburg: Though he gave up back-to-back two-out singles in the bottom of the eighth, Thornburg showed good stuff, racking up three strikeouts in his one inning of work and giving the Sox hope that he can still contribute as a high-leverage weapon the rest of the way.
Eduardo Nunez: Nunez continued his offensive upswing in the second half, lining three singles to right field in his first three plate appearances.
TWO DOWN
Jackie Bradley Jr.: Bradley homered in the first game of the series, but it's been downhill after that, going hitless Wednesday and taking another 0-for-4 with a strikeout Thursday.
Andrew Benintendi: The outfielder had been streaking at the plate of late but after an infield single in the first, he was retired on groundouts to first in each of his next three at-bats, each time ending the inning and stranding baserunners in the process.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"As soon as I saw it go over the wall, I thought, 'There goes my claim to fame.'' Brock Holt, who had been the last Red Sox player to hit for the cycle until Betts homered in the ninth to give him that distinction.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The loss was just the second for the Red Sox in their last 12 games.
- The Sox allowed eight runs in a loss, the first time that's happened since July 13 -- also against Toronto.
- In his last two outings against the Jays, Porcello has allowed 15 runs.
- The three hits for Eduardo Nunez tied a season-high.