For six innings, the Red Sox had the lead and a no-hitter in progress. Four innings later, all they had to show for themselves was one more loss, their fourth straight.
The Toronto Blue Jays managed solo runs in both the seventh and eighth to tie the game at 2-2 then eruped for four runs in top of the 10th off reliever Phillips Valdez to post a 6-2 win over the Red Sox. A three-run homer by Teoscar Hernandez was the big blow in the 10th was the big blow.
Martin Perez didn't allow a hit for the first six innings before Hernandez singled to lead off the seventh.
The Sox got a solo homer from Jackie Bradley Jr for their first run. Bradley drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to account for the only other Red Sox run.
WHO: Red Sox (12-25) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (19-16)
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOSTON 3-2
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Martin Perez (2-4, 4.58) vs. RHP Taijuan Walker (3-2, 3,27)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Verdugo RF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Vazquez C
Bradley CF
Chavis 2B
Dalbec 1B
Munoz LF
BLUE JAYS
Biggio RF
Grichuk CF
Hernandez DH
Guerrero 1B
Gurriel LF
Villar 2B
Panik 3B
Jansen C
Espinal SS
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
11:06 Teoscar Hernandez gets an 0-and-1 changeup over the heart of the plate and takes it the other way, belting it into the home bullpen for a three-run homer off Phillips Valdez.
10:58 The Red Sox are 0-1 in extra-inning games this season.
10:42 Yairo Munoz gets up 3-and-0 in the count, then, after taking a called strike, swings at two pitches out of the zone. Not what you're looking for in that spot.
10:34 Matt Barnes has been extremely effective of late. Allows a one-out single, but records three strikeouts in a scoreless ninth, commanding his fastball and curve equally.
10:04 Ryan Brasier, inhering first-and-second, balks the runners over, then, with his first pitch, throws a wild pitch, allowing the tying run to score and the go-ahead run to move to third base.
9:41 Brice, after hitting one pinch-hitter (Rowdy Tellez) to fill the bases, fans Travis Shaw on four pitches to leave three the bases loaded.
9:35 Two more singles in the inning produce a run for the Jays and bring an end to the night for Perez, who leaves with two on, two out and the Sox up 2-1. Austin Brice on.
9:23 Teoscar Hernandez fishes out a curveball beneath the strike zone and hits the base of the left field wall on a line for the first hit of the night for the Blue Jays.
9:16 Matched against lefty reliever Anthony Kay, Bradley works a bases-loaded walk, forcing in a run. Sox lead 2-0.
8:41 Red Sox miss an opportunity to add on. Had runners at first and third with one out, but Santiago Espinal gloves a grounder from Bradley up the middle, steps on second for the force and fires to first to complete the inning-ending double play.
8:31 Super strange play there: with Vladimir Guerrero on first and two out, Lourdes Gurriel Jr.hits a popup onto the grass in right. Chavis drifts over, but the ball falls out of his glove and onto the ground,. Guerrero, running all the way, stops at third, but then decides to try to catch Chavis napping and breaks for the plate, where he's easily thrown out.
8:19 Rafael Devers gets -- or gives himself -- the green light on 3-and-0 and pops out to first in foul territory.
8:08 Bobby Dalbec continues to have a tough time of it at the plate. Since his debut Sunday, he's 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts.
8:05 Michael Chavis snaps a hitless streak of 13 at-bats by driving a single up the middle.
8:04 Jackie Bradley Jr. is on one of his patented hot streaks, driving a line drive out to right that just clears the visitor's bullpen. That's his fourth homer of the season -- all coming in the last 16 games.
8:02 It's just the second inning, but the Red Sox bench is riding home plate umpire Adam Beck pretty hard.
PRE-GAME NOTES
- Just as they're beginning a stretch of five games in four days, with a doubleheader Friday, the Sox lost another starting pitcher to injury with RHP Colten Brewer headed to IL, retroactive to Sept. 1, with a finger strain. To replace Brewer on the roster, the Red Sox recalled RHP Marcus Walden from their alternate training site in Pawtucket. Brewer is the third starter on the Sox to head to the IL in the last two weeks.
- The timetable for RHP Nathan Eovaldi was again pushed back following a Thursday afternoon bullpen session. Eovaldi, who is on the IL with a stained right calf muscle, felt some soreness in the area. The plan is for him to throw another bullpen Sunday, and perhaps another Tuesday, after which the Sox will have a better idea on a schedule for his return.
- The Red Sox announced that RHP Zach Godley will start the first game of Friday's doubleheader with RHP Chris Mazza going in the nightcap.
- The Sox claimed catcher Deivy Grullon from the Philadelphia Phillies and assigned him to the alternate training site in Pawtucket. The Sox are now at 40 on their 40-man roster and at 59 with their club player pool. Grullon, 24, made his major league debut with the Phillies last year, appearing in four gzames in September. Last year at Triple A, he hit .271 with 24 doubles, 21 home runs, 77 RBI, and 55 runs scored in 108 games.