All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 9-1 loss to the Blue Jays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
Lineup limp: On Tuesday night, the Red Sox erupted for nine runs in a big comeback win. On Wednesday, the offense was lifeless. The Red Sox got a two-out double from Christian Vazquez in the second, an infield hit from Jackie Bradley Jr. to open the third, a solo opposite-field homer from Mitch Moreland in the fourth -- and that was it. They didn't have a hit after the fourth inning and had just two baserunners over the final five innings as they went down meekly against the Jays. The first four hitters in the Red Sox lineup were a combined 0-f0r-15. Manager Ron Roenicke said he thought the Sox may have had difficulty adjusting to the five different pitchers the Jays trotted out and their contrasting style and repertoires, but that's hardly a unique situation in 2020. Certainly, it hasn't hurt opponents when the Red Sox also cycle through a handful of pitchers.
Tellez is a terror: It wouldn't be a Red S0x-Blue Jays series without a big game from Rowdy Tellez, and so it was that the burly slugger beat up on Boston pitching Wednesday. He hit a towering homer to right-center off starter Colten Brewer in the second, then took him out to deep right in the fourth, this time with a runner aboard. That gave him nine career homers in 20 games against the Red Sox. But even then, Tellez wasn't finished. He came to the plate in the five-run seventh and added a run-scoring single to right off Austin Brice. "We make a lot of bad pitches to him and he does not miss him,'' said Roenicke. "Usually, you make some bad pitches and a guy will miss one once in a while. He doesn't seem to do that.''
Sox didn't discuss boycotting: Three other MLB games were called off Wednesday night in reaction to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin, along with the entire NBA, WNBA and MLS schedules, but with one of the earliest start times of any game on the evening schedule, the Red Sox did not discuss the possibility of not playing Wednesday's game as a form of protest. "I wasn't very aware of any of the baseball stuff until probably just before I was going out for the start of the game, just before stretch,'' said Jackie Bradley Jr., the lone African-American player on the Red Sox. "I had seen the (NBA) situation, but all the other stuff, it was late notice when I found out.'' Bradley said he was unsure if the timing had been different whether the Red Sox would have discussed sitting out the game. "It hasn't been brought to the overall team's attention yet,'' said Bradley.
TURNING POINT
At 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh, this was still, nominally, a game. But then Ryan Weber surrendered three straight singles for a run, and when Austin Brice relieved him and issued a walk, the Sox were getting in deeper trouble. Sure enough, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ripped a bases-clearing double down the left field line and the rout was on.
ONE UP
Mitch Moreland: As has been the case far too often this season, Moreland was the lone bright spot in the Red Sox lineup, with a solo homer in the fourth -- his sixth in his last 14 games.
TWO DOWN
J.D. Martinez: Martinez was, once again, simply not a factor for the Red Sox, going hitless in four at-bats.
Colten Brewer: Brewer limited the damage early, allowing solo homers in the first and second and retiring the Jays in order in the third. But he gave up two more in the fourth and couldn't get out of the inning.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"He's putting a hurting on us all of last year and so far this year.'' Ron Roenicke on Red Sox-killer Rowdy Tellez.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Alex Verdugo saw his 14-game hitting streak come to an end with an 0-for-4 night.
- Mitch Moreland has reached base in 14 straight games.
- Michael Chavis is just 6-for-33 against righthanded pitching this season.