In what was arguably the worst loss of the season to date, the Red Sox blew a five-run lead with nine outs to go and dropped a hideous 8-7 decision to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays trailed 6-1 after six, but scored four in the seventh on two homers and a wild pitch. Thing got worse in the eighth as Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier issued four straight two-out walks -- as the Jays added three more. Brasier's two walks -- the first on four straight balls -- came with the bases loaded, forcing in runs.
The Sox got a run back in the ninth and had the potential tying run on second base but J.D. Martinez went down swinging against closer Ken Giles.
The Sox scored five in the second and another in the third to stake Brian Johnson to an early 6-0 lead. Johnson was impressive over five innings, allowing only one unearned run.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays
WHEN: 4:05 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: Boston 5-2
SERIES TO DATE: Boston 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Brian Johnson (1-1, 10.00) vs. RHP Derek Law (0-1, 5.16)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
7:44 Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier have combined to issue four straight walks, the last two of which came with the bases loaded, forcing in runs.
7:39 Four pitches, four balls from Ryan Brasier, and a bases-loaded walk of Eric Sogard forces in the go-ahead run for the Jays. Man, has this one gone off the rails.
7:25 Ugly eighth inning as Matt Barnes allows two hits, a walk and throws a wild pitch, allowing the Jays to come all the way back from a 6-0 deficit. This game is eerily like last night...in reverse. On Friday, the Sox came from behind and tied it in the eighth. Today, it's the Blue Jays doing the same.
6:45 Well, it wouldn't be a Red Sox-Blue Jays game without a tape-measure shot by Rowdy Tellez, would it? A solo shot that was absolutely pulverized into the CF bleachers. That's five homers in six games against the Sox this season.
6:42 Shawaryn retired the first four hitters without incident but a one-out single and a two-run homer to right by Freddy Galvis makes this one a little more interesting.
6:14 Would expect that this will be all for Johnson, who goes five innings on 83 pitches and allowed a single run on four hits and no walks. Given the struggles they've experienced in the No. 5 spot in their rotation, the Sox must be overjoyed with what Johnson gave them today. Mike Shawaryn warming.
5:53 The Jays push across a run on three hits -- two which never left the infield -- and a throwing error by Xander Bogaerts, but with runners at first and second, Johnson buckles down and gets a strikeout and infield popup to strand two baserunners.
5:36 Ten homers for Christian Vazquez before the half-way mark is something I didn't think was possible. And yet, here we are. Second in as many days, this one off the right field foul pole.
5:31 Brian Johnson has been far sharper than he was in his first start last weekend. He's allowed just one baserunner over the first three innings this time out and most of the contact being made by the Jays has been fairly weak.
5:18 A pitching change, but the Red Sox keep mashing. Sam Gaviglio's third hitter faced is Andrew Benintendi who launches a double to left, scoring two more and the rout is on early.
5:07 With a run-scoring single up the middle, Michael Chavis extends the Red Sox' lead and gives himself an 11-game hitting streak.
5:04 Jackie Bradley Jr.'s wall double drives in two. That's the 10th extra-base hit in the last 17 games for Bradley, who has eight RBI in his last nine games.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Holt 2B
Vazquez C
Bradley CF
Chavis 1B
Nunez 3B
BLUE JAYS
Sogard DH
Guerrero Jr. 3B
Gurriel Jr. LF
Grichuk RF
Hernandez CF
Biggio LF
Galvis SS
Tellez 1B
Maile C
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last nine game....The Sox had a walk-off win Friday night, 7-5 over the Blue Jays in 10 innings...Since the start of 2017, the Sox are 33-12 against Toronto (.733)...They're 12-2 in their last 14 games against Toronto at Fenway....It was their fourth of the season. In the A.L., only the Oakland A's have more (five)....The Sox lead the American League with nine extra-inning games, including four in the last 11 games...The Sox now have a modest three-game winning streak at home after going 1-7 in their previous eight games at Fenway...They're now 18-17 at home this season....The Sox have allowed four earned runs or fewer in each of their last seven games...In that stretch, their starting pitchers are 4-0 with a 2.70 ERA....Over the last nine games,, the bullpen has pitched to a 1.70 ERA while limiting opponents to a .213 batting average....In the first 25 games, the Red Sox bullpen had a 4,99 ERA, but in the last 52 games, the bullpen has a 3.29, second-lowest in the big leagues while limiting opponents to a .218 batting average....Since May 1, Rafael Devers has 40 RBI, tying him with Mike Trout for the A.L. lead in that span. He has 16 "go-ahead'' RBI and 10 game-winning RBI, both tops in MLB....Xander Bogaerts has doubled in each of his last six games, the longest streak of his career and tied with Minnesota's Max Kepler for the longest streak in the majors this season...In his last 38 games, Bogaerts has 27 RBI and 36 runs scored while compiling a 1.043 OPS. In that span, he has as many walks as strikeouts...The Sox got a huge pinch-hit from Devers Friday night to tie the game in the eighth inning, continuing their stretch of success in such situations...For the season, Red Sox pinch-hitters are hitting .450 (18-for-40) with an OBP of .542 and an OPS of 1.317...The Sox had one triple in their first 42 games this season; since then, they have 12 triples, the most of any team, including 11 triples in their last 23 games....Five Red Sox hitters have ongoing hitting streaks of five games or more -- Michael Chavis (10 games); Christian Vazquez (seven games); Andrew Benintendi (six); Xander Bogaerts (six) and Mookie Betts (five)….Chavis's 10-game streak is the longest current streak in the American League and the longest for a Red Sox rookie since Benintendi had an 11-game streak in August of 2017....This will mark Brian Johnson's first start against the Blue Jays since Aug. 18, 2018...The Sox are 15-5 in his last 20 starts...Teoscar Hernandez is 2-for-4 with two homers off Johnson in his career while Randal Grichuk is 2-for-6....The Sox don't have a lot of history against Derek Law, though Devers homered off him in his only career at-bat.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Rafael Devers, who was held out of the starting lineup with a hamstring strain but made a pinch-hitting appearance in the eighth inning, is out of the lineup again, as a precaution just to provide him with one more day.
- Steve Pearce (back) continues his rehab with Pawtucket and is scheduled to play tonight and tomorrow there. He could be activated Monday.
- RHP Heath Hembree (forearm) threw Saturday morning and could begin a rehab assignment Monday.
- 1B Mitch Moreland took ground balls, but isn't yet ready to begin an assignment with an affiliate.