The Red Sox followed perhaps their most crushing defeat with one of their most lopsided of the season.
The Sox allowed a season-high 18 hits and were shut out for the first time since Opening Day, losing 8-0 to the Toronto Blue Jays. The win brought the Jays to within a half game of the Sox in the American League East standings.
Eduardo Rodriguez allowed five runs in five innings. Matt Andriese allowed three more in three innings of relief.
Offensively, the Sox managed just five hits though one didn't leave the infield and another should have been scored an error.
WHO: Red Sox (25-17) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (22-17)
WHEN: 7:37 p.m.
WHERE: TD Ballpark, Dunedin, Fla.
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 1-1
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (5-1, 4.15) vs. LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-2, 2.95)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LNEUPS
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Renfroe RF
Gonzalez 2B
Dalbec 1B
BLUE JAYS
Semien 2B
Bichette SS
Guerrero Jr. 1B
Hernandez LF
Grichuk CF
Gurriel DH
Biggio RF
Espinal 3B
Jansen C
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B8: Randal Grichuk goes the other way, aided by the wind, and homers to right with a man on.
B6: Sox go to the bullpen and Matt Andriese, but the night doesn't get any better with a walk and two hits leading to yet another run
B5: Blue Jays continue to rake against Rodriguez. Run-scoring single from Lourdes Guriel Jr. to RF, scoring Hernandez. The Jays have 11 hits and this would seem to be Rodriguez's final inning in what is surely his worst outing of the season.
B4: Rodriguez has himself to blame in that inning for walking light-hitting Jansen with two outs to start all the trouble.
B4: Sloppy play by Hunter Renfroe, who throws wildly -- and unnecessarily -- to third, allowing a second run to score. Jam shot blooper turns into two runs.
T4: Poor swing decision by Rafael Devers, who reaches out and pops up a pitch that was an inch off the ground and way outside.
T4: Alex Verdugo is undaunted by lefty pitchers. He hits them well and regularly. The Sox have two hits tonight and both are from Verdugo.
B2: Lots of hard contact this inning against Rodriguez, resulting in a 1-0 lead on a run-scoring single by Danny Jansen.
B2: A little too much needless flair from Rafael Devers, who goes for the flashy backhand stop and has the ball go under his glove for a leadoff double from Randal Grichuk.
B1: Eduardo Rodriguez pitching with a very slow tempo -- far slower than he has in previous outings.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have won three of their last four games...At 25-17 (.595), they are tied with Oakland and San Diego for MLB’s third-best record behind the Chicago White Sox (25-15) and San Francisco Giants (25-16)....The Sox’ .706 winning percentage on the road is the best in the majors (12-5)...The Sox also rank second in the AL and fourth in the majors in road ERA (3.41)...The Red Sox’ plus-45 run differential ranks third in the AL and fifth in the majors...They have won nine games by 5+ runs, tied for second-most in MLB....: The Red Sox rank sixth in the AL and 12th in the majors in ERA (3.81), after posting a 5.58 ERA in 2020... They have allowed 4 runs or fewer in 7 of their last 8 games....In seven of the last 10 games, Red Sox starters have gone at least six innings...In the club’s last 20 games, Sox starters have a 3.25 ERA and have allowed one or no homers in 24 straight games, the club’s longest streak since 20018...The Red Sox are out-homering their opponents, 53-30 (plus 23)...That's the largest difference in the AL and second largest in the majors (STL, plus 25).... Sox pitchers have allowed an AL-best 0.73 HR/9.0 IP, third fewest in MLB...They have allowed multiple HR only seven times this season, including in only one of their last 14 games.....The Sox remain the only team yet to allow three home runs in a game...The Red Sox and Blue Jays are 6-6 against each other since the start of 2020, including 1-1 this season...Nine of the last 12 meetings have been decided by one or two runs....The Red Sox lead MLB in runs (217), doubles (94), extra-base hits (150), slugging percentage (.446), and OPS (.772). The Sox have 26 HR in their last 16 games...second-most in MLB during that time behind only Toronto with 27)... They have hit multiple HR in each of their last four games, their longest streak of the season....The Red Sox have three players with at least nine homers, 25 RBI, and a .900 OPS -- the rest of the AL has three such players combined.... Rafael Devers leads the majors in RBI (34); J.D. Martinez is tied for second (33)...Martinez is tied for the MLB lead in runs scored (33). Xander Bogaerts and Martinez are tied for the MLB lead in hits (52)...They also are tied for second in total bases (92) behind only Shohei Ohtani (93).,,,In the Red Sox’ last 11 games, their 7-8-9 hitters are batting .275 and slugging .492 with five homers..They have combined to hit seven homers in May, after hitting only two in April. In their last 4 games, the Sox’ 7-8-9 hitters are batting .415 and slugging .829....They have eight extra-base hits in their last 32 plate appearances...The Red Sox lead the majors in outfield assists (13); no other team has more than 10. According to FanGraphs, Red Sox outfielders rank tied for third in the majors with nine defensive runs saved...Hunter Renfroe leads AL outfielders in defensive runs saved (eight, second in MLB) and assists (five, tied for first in MLB)....In his last seven games, Josh Taylor has allowed two hits and ni runs ....In 13 outings this season, covering 15.1 IP, Phillips Valdez owns a 0.85 WHIP and a .132 opponent AVG....In his last seven appearances, Hirokazu Sawamura has no walks and 16 strikeouts...Eduardo Rodriguez has thrown five or more innings in each of his last 35 starts, dating back to May 4, 2019....Rodriguez leads Sox starters in SO/9.0 IP (9.69) and is tied for the team lead in strikeouts (42). ..The Red Sox are 50-14 (.781) in his starts since the beginning of 2018....Starting in September 2017, the Sox are 40-3 (.930) when giving him four or more runs of support...Teoscar Hernandez is 5-for-14 with three homers against Rodriguez in his career while Bo Bichette is 2-for-3 with a homer...Martinez is 4-for-13 against Ryu while Bogaerts is 2-for-5 with a homer.
NOTES:
* Kike Hernandez was activated and put right back into the lineup, playing centerfield and hitting leadoff.
* Alex Cora was encouraged by the last start from Eduardo Rodriguez, even though he lost. Cora saw improvement in the lefty's stuff.
* Cora warned that the ball has been flying out of TD Ballpark, especially to right/center. There's also some concern about the lighting and the challenges that might present to the infielders and outfielders.
* Cora said he texted with Chris Sale Monday and relayed that Sale is excited about the way he's bouncing back from his mound sessions.
* Christian Arroyo is set to take batting practice at Worcester Tuesday.