All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Blue Jays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Sox squander : The afternoon began with promise for the Red Sox, offensively speaking. A leadoff walk and some aggressive baserunning on a single resulted in the Sox getting two runners in scoring position even before they the Blue Jays recorded an out. The Red Sox scratched out a run on a one-out groundout, but that was the extent of their offense for the rest of the afternoon as they followed that with six scoreless innings. The biggest frustration resulted from a bases-loaded, no-out opportunities in the second innings. They also had first-and-third with one out chance in the fifth that, again, yielded nothing. Alex Cora has stressed the need to put the ball in play of late, citing the rallies pulled off by both the Sox and the Yankees in the eighth inning on consecutive days over the weekend, but his hitters didn't heed that in Game 1, with nine strikeouts in seven innings. In the second, fourth and fifth, after the Sox got baserunners, the next hitter fanned all three times.
Richards rocked again: Sometime in the next couple of weeks, Chris Sale is going to re-join the Red Sox rotation and some current starter is going to be forced out. With his recent ineffectiveness, Garrett Richards is all but volunteering himself, thrusting his hand up in the air. Richards allowed four runs in four innings, and gave up a lot of hard contact in the process, including two homers. Over his last nine starts, Richards has compiled a 7.18 ERA and opposing hitters are batting a robust .346 against him. For the most part, much of Richards' difficulties have come as he tries to assemble a new pitch mix in the wake of MLB's foreign substance crackdown. He's even introduced a changeup to his repertoire, but Wednesday afternoon, it was his four-seamer on which the Jays did the most damage. "Just continuing to fine tune some stuff,'' said Richards. "I threw a lot of strikes today and had really good stuff - just couldn't keep any runs off the board.'' Which is, you know, the object of the whole thing.''
TURNING POINT
In a 1-1 game in the bottom of the second, the Red Sox used an infield single, a double and a walk to load the bases against Toronto starter Robbie Ray. But rather that produce the kind of hit that might blow a game open in the early innings, the Red Sox came out of the opportunity with nothing as Ray fanned Michael Chavis and Kike Hernandez before ending the threat altogether by retiring Rafael Devers on a flyout to center.
TWO UP:
Yacksel Rios: The reliever kept the game within reach with two perfect innings in relief of Richards, during which he struck out three of the six hitters he faced.
Rafael Devers: On an otherwise quiet day for the Red Sox' offense, Devers contributed two of the team's five hits with a first-inning single and a double in the fifth.
TWO DOWN:
Christian Vazquez: Vazquez continues to struggle with the bat. He was 0-for-3 in the opener and is just 2-for-16 on the current homestand.
Michael Chavis: With injuries to a number of utility players on the roster, Chavis is getting increased playing time, but he's not doing much with the opportunity. He struck out in both plate appearances, stranding four baserunners in the process.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"We had a chance to put them away. We did not.'' - Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* Kevin Plawecki is hitting .308 since May 1.
* J.D. Martinez has reached base safely in 36 of his last 39 games.
* Over his last eight games, Kike Hernandez has scored nine runs and posted a OBP of .378.
* The Red Sox have allowed 20 homers to the Blue Jays in eight games at Fenway this season.
* Alex Verdugo threw out a baserunner at third, giving the Red Sox outfield 31 assists.