The Red Sox' August slump bottomed out with an embarrassing 12-4 thrashing by the Toronto Blue Jays, the Sox' seventh loss in the last eight games.
The Sox led 2-0 in the fifth before the Jays struck for seven runs off starter Nathan Eovaldi, who had limited the Jays to just two hits until that fateful inning. Eovaldi hasn't won since July 1, and the Sox have lost his last five starts.
The Jays finished with 17 hits and have scored 25 runs against the Sox the last two meetings.
WHO: Red Sox (64-46) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (57-49)
WHEN: 7:07 p.m.
WHERE: Rogers Centre
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOS 9-6
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (9-6, 3.71) vs. RHP Alek Manoah (3-1, 2.47)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Renfroe RF
Gonzalez 2B
Vazquez C
Cordero 1B
BLUE JAYS
Springer CF
Guerrero Jr. 1B
Semien 2B
Bichette SS
Hernandez RF
Gurriel Jr. LF
Kirk C
Grichuk CF
Valera 3B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T6: Two-run homer from Hunter Renfroe gets a couple back, but feels more than a little inadequate after the Jays scored nine in the previous inning.
B5: Three more hits -- single, double and a homer -- and the Jays explode for seven runs. No idea why Alex Cora waited so long to go get Eovaldi, who had clearly lost it as the Jays were hitting rockets all over the ballpark.
B5: Yet another double -- another on a good pitch, at the bottom of the zone - as Brevic Velera laces a third straight double for Toronto, tying the game.
B5: Back-to-back doubles from Alejandro Kirk (to left field) and Randal Grichuk (to right) to open the fifth cuts the Red Sox' lead in half in a hurry.
T5: Kike Hernandez drops a flair into shallow center, and with two outs and the runners off on contact, Marwin Gonzalez scores from second to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.
T4: Not exactly a big rally, but the Red Sox get 'em over and get 'em in with a groundout from J.D. Martinez and a sacrifice fly to right from Xander Bogaerts.
T4 Verdugo has had better at-bats of late and opens the fourth with a line double to the wall in right-center. Fifth hit in the last three games, three of which have gone for doubles.
B3: Nate Eovaldi, who pitched well against the Jays in his only other start against them back in June, is sharp though the first three innings, with just one hard-hit ball against him: a two-out double by Marcus Semien in the first inning.
T2: Through the first two innings, not much has changed when it comes to the Red Sox' inability to capitalize. In the first, a double play wiped out a one-out single from Alex Verdugo. And in the second, a one-out walk to Rafael Devers is wasted as both Hunter Renfroe and Marwin Gonzalez fan.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have lost six of their last seven games...They are 9-10 since the All-Star break and 64-46 (.582) overall, the third-best record in the AL and sixth-best in the majors. The Sox’ 31-24 (.564) road record ranks 4th in the AL and 6th in the majors....Xander Bogaerts played in his 1,004th game at shortstop yesterday (all with the Red Sox)...His next appearance at the position would break a tie with Rick Burleson for the second-most games at SS in Red Sox history, trailing only Everett Scott (1,093). Since the start of 2018, Bogaerts ranks either 1st or 2nd among MLB shortstops in AVG (first .302), OBP (first , .373), OPS (second, .903), XBH (second, 221), hits (second, 514), doubles (first, 135), and RBI (first, 303)..... In their first nine games out of the All-Star break, Red Sox starters posted a 3.50 ERA; in 10 games since, they have a 7.81 ERA... Only six pitchers have started a game for the Red Sox this season, the fewest in the majors (they used 16 starters in 2020)...They have not used fewer than eight starting pitchers in a season since 1965 (7)...Yairo Muñoz extended his hitting streak with Triple-A Worcester to 27 games yesterday, setting a new modern day Red Sox Triple-A record...The previous record of 25 games was set by Jacoby Ellsbury in 2007. Muñoz’s streak is the longest in the minors this season.....Nick Yorke—the Red Sox’ top selection in the 2020 June Draft—has a .446 OBP with 14 XBH during his current 35-game on-base streak with Low-A Salem, hitting safely in each of his last 16 games (.333 AVG).....The Red Sox are 9-6 against the Blue Jays this season, having won five of the last seven meetings...This four-game set concludes the teams’ season series. Tonight will be the Sox’ 1st time playing at Rogers Centre since September 2019....The Sox are 20-8 (.714) at Rogers Centre since the start of 2017...Sox pitchers allowed 8 runs yesterday, after allowing 8 runs in 25.0 IP in their previous 3...They have given up four runs or fewer in 12 of their last 16 games. In their last five games, the Sox have struck out 58 batters and walked 13...In their last 33 games, Sox pitchers rank fourth in the majors in SO/BB ratio...Red Sox relievers rank third in the AL and sixth in MLB in ERA (3.62)...Their nine active relievers have a combined 2.85 ERA for Boston this season....In his last 15 games, Matt Barnes has posted a 0.61 ERA with a 0.82 WHIP....In his last 20 games, Garrett Whitlock is 4-0 with a 0.57 ERA....The Sox have averaged three runs per game in the last 12 games, posting a .248 AVG and .695 OPS with nine HR. Overall, the Red Sox rank in the top five in the majors in AVG (fourth, .257), SLG (third, .438), doubles (first, 230), and XBH (first, 383). The Sox own MLB’s best records when scoring four or more runs (57-8, .877) and five or more runs (48-5, .The Sox have committed only four errors in their last 14 games, posting a .991 fielding percentage...The Sox lead MLB with 33 OF assists, nine more than any other team...Nathan Eovaldi has a 3.15 ERA in his last 12 starts and has issued one or no walks in each of his last eights...Prior to Eovaldi, the last Sox pitcher with one or no walks in at least eight straight starts was Aaron Cook in 2012 (8 starts)....Eovaldi leads qualified AL pitchers in FanGraphs’ WAR (3.9), HR/9.0 IP (0.52), and FIP (2.65), while ranking second in in BB/9.0 IP (1.63) and second in SO/BB (5.46). Leads Sox starters in wins (nine), ERA (3.71), innings (121.1), and WHIP (1.19). He tossed 6.2 scoreless innings in his only start vs. TOR this year on June 14...Bo Bichette is 3-for-9 lifetime with a homer against Eovaldi.
NOTES:
* The Red Sox placed OF Jarren Duran on the IL-COVID list and replaced him on the roster with INF Jonathan Arauz. "It's the same situations as (Matt Barnes) the other day,'' said Cora. "Not great. He's going to go through the whole process and hopefully we'll get good news later on. He's at the hotel. We all got tested here again because of everything that's going on. But he's at the hotel. He's not going to be at the ballpark. So we're waiting.''
* Cora revealed that he spoke with Martin Perez and has decided to take Perez out of the rotation and move him to the bullpen. Perez got shelled for three runs in an inning and a third and has failed to get out of the fourth inning in four of his last five starts. "With where we're at and the people we're adding in the upcoming days, it just makes sense,'' said Cora. "Stuff-wise, I think he's been a lot better than the results. But obviously, this is where we're going to be roster-wise. I had a conversation with him and obviously it's not easy to have that conversation. But he understands. He's done it before.'' Cora added that it was "most likely" that Perez's turn in the rotation will be taken by Tanner Houck, who pitches the second game of the doubleheader Saturday.''
* There's still no timetable for a rehab assignment for newcomer Kyle Schwarber. "We're still waiting to see how he feels today,'' said Cora. "We'll keep moving forward. As far as a rehab assignment or games, we're not there yet. We'll probably have more over the weekend.''
* Cora is more encouraged by what he's seen from Franchy Cordero of late. "He's putting up quality at-bats, which is important,'' said Cora. "We're lacking quality at-bats right now. He's been able to stay on pitches and go the other way and been able, actually, to control the strike zone. Obviously, we would love him to hit the ball out of the ballparks, but at least he's making sound decisions and putting up good at-bats.''