It didn't begin well, or, for that matter, end well for the Red Sox Wednesday night at Fenway. The Sox fell behind 4-0 by the second inning, and after closing to within a run in the eighth, allowed two more runs in the ninth for a 6-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Garrett Richards once again struggled with his control and couldn't make it through the fifth inning, issuing six walks while also hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch.
The Red Sox bullpen kept the Jays within reach from the fifth through the eighth before Josh Taylor came unglued in the ninth.
WHO: Red Sox (12-6) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (7-10)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: Red Sox 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Garrett Richards (0-1, 6.00) vs. RHP Trent Thornton (0-0 2.35)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM
LINEUPS
BLUE JAYS
Biggio 3B
Bichette SS
Guerrero Jr. 1B
Tellez DH
Grichuk CF
Semien 2B
Palacios RF
Gurriel LF
Jansen C
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo RF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Gonzalez 2B
Dalbec 1B
Cordero LF
IN-GAME OBSERVATION:
B8: Throwing error by Cavan Biggio opens the door for the Red Sox, putting the potential tying run at third and the potential go-ahead run at second with Bobby Dalbec due.
B8: Bogaerts fights off a slider down and in and golfs it into the Monster Seats for his second homer in as many nights.
B5: Bogaerts had a big chance to get the Sox back into the game, but grounds out to short, leaving the bases loaded.
B5: Three hits this inning, the latest a double down the left field line by Kiké Hernández cuts the Toronto lead in half and sends two baserunners into scoring position.
T5: That's all for Richards, who walks six and hits another in 4.2 IP. The wonder is that he limited the Jays to just four runs. Hirokazu Sawamura on with two outs in the inning.
B4: Two groundouts and Martinez is home with the first run of the night.
B4: Second inning in a row in which the Red Sox put the leadoff man on base as J.D. Martinez doubles to left-center. Let's see if they can do anything with the opportunity.
T2: Sharp single by Bo Bichette a few feet from second baseman Marwin Gonzalez and the Jays are up 4-0.
T2: This is not going well for Richards, who's issued three walks to the first nine hitters and has thrown more balls than strikes in his first two innings. He simply can't command his fastball, and when he misses, it's not by a little.
T2: Marcus Semien gets a huge jump on Richards and jogs into second base on a steal.
TI: Wildness costs Garrett Richards in the first inning, with a four-pitch walk followed by a hit-batsman (on an 0-and-2 count, no less). Vlad Guerrero Jr. singles home a run, but Richards gets out of further trouble with a 3-6-1 double play.
PRE-GAME STATS: The Red Sox own the best record in the AL at 12-6, .667 and the second best in the majors behind only the Dodgers (14-4, .778)..The Sox are unbeaten in their last four series, having won three and split one....They're already assured of no worse than a split in this two-game set, having won the opener Tuesday night...The Sox also lead the league in run differential at plus-30...This is the 24th time the Red Sox have won at least 12 of their first 18 games. They most recently did so in 2018 (16-2)....The Sox lead the majors with nine come-from-behind wins; no other team has more than six...The Sox are fourth in the AL in pitching and ninth in MLB with a 3.60 ERA....In the last nine games, they have a collective 2.99 ERA...In the last four games, the Sox have struck out 32 hitters and walked just four....They've had a starter go at least five innings in 14 of their 18 games, tying them with Oakland for the most in the American League...The Sox are 12-0 when they holding a lead at at any point in a game...The Sox are 6-6 when the opponent scores first...In Boston's six losses, they never led at at point...Red Sox relievers are fourth in the AL and fifth in MLB in bullpen ERA at 2.78...Over the last nine games, the relievers have combined to post a 1.27 ERA...Matt Barnes has faced 32 hitters and struck out 16 of them, exactly half. He's allowed just five batters to reach base (two hits, three walks)....Sox pitchers have allowed just five homers in the last nine games and have the lowest homer/per 9 IP rate at 0.63....The Sox lead the majors in runs scored (100), average (.285), OBP (.345), slugging percentage (.469), OPS (.814) and doubles (43)...The Sox have scored at least 10 runs in a game three games after doing so just twice in all of last season....J.D. Martinez leads the majors in RBI (20) and leads the AL in extra-base hits (13), homers (six), hits (24) and total bases (49)...He's second in slugging (.766) and OPS (1.194), both behind only Mike Trout...Xander Bogaerts leads the AL in batting (.393) and is hitting .469 over the last 13 games....Bogaerts needs just four more games played to become the 30th player in franchise history to reach 1,000....Marcus Semien is 2-for-13 lifetime against Garrett Richards and Joe Panik is 0-for-3...Rafael Devers is 3-for-7 with a homer against Tyler Thornton while Bogaerts is 3-for-6 with a homer.
NOTES:
- Alex Cora noted that Garrett Richards has not yet mastered his slider this season. "It's not where we want it to be or where he wants it to be,'' said Cora. "I do believe when the slider plays, he's going to be dominant. He did the job in Baltimore, he threw the ball well in Minnesota but we didn't make some plays behind him. But we're very comfortable with him, we're very happy with the way he keeps getting better and hopefully we could put everything behind him together today and he can get that slider back and gives six or seven innings.''
- A number of additional Red Sox players received their first vaccination shots prior to the game; another group had gotten theirs after Monday's Patriots Day game. Cora was unsure whether the Red Sox would have enough members of their traveling party (85 percent) to qualify for more relaxed health and safety protocols, as determined by MLB. "We'll know by the end of the week,'' Cora said.
- Cora said Hunter Renfroe has been "out in front, a little off-balance, kind of lunging'' at the plate. "It's something that we saw last year with the Rays,'' Cora said. "He was in such a good place in spring training and we feel we can get him back there again.''
- Cora said the improved velocity of the Red Sox bullpen has been a key to the relievers' success. "I noticed, in '19, we were behind velocity-wise in spring training,'' he said. "Then I noticed we were back in the game in spring training this year. And not only here, but also with the rest of the group (in the minors). We believe we can get people out the way we pitch. But that separation (between a fastball and other pitches) makes a big difference -- it's huge. It gives us a chance. And we're still missing (Ryan) Brasier, who found his fastball last year and we believe he's going to be a huge impact. Velocity is important. When the game goes to the bullpen, the game steps up. For however much we love pounding the strikezone and (getting) weak contract, when they don't put the ball in play and they have swing and misses late in games, it's a lot better.''