Just when it seemed as though the Red Sox were going to salvage a split of their series in Toronto and take a modest two-game winning streak home, a two-run lead in the eighth disappeared with a three-run homer by George Springer, sending the Sox to their ninth loss in the last 11 games.
The Sox led 7-2 at one point, but missed numerous chances to add on, stranding 10 baserunners.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox bullpen imploded, allowing five runs over the final four, culminating with Springer's blast off his former UConn teammate Matt Barnes. It was the second time in the last three games that Barnes had allowed a game-winning homer.
J.D. Martinez and Kevin Plawecki each had three RBI, to little avail.
WHO: Red Sox (65-48) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (59-50)
WHEN: 1:07 p.m
WHERE: Rogers Centre
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 10-8
SERIES TO DATE: TOR 2-1
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Garrett Richards (6-7, 5.21) vs. LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (11-5, 3,22)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Renfroe RF
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Martinez DH
Plawecki C
Dalbec 1B
Arauz 2B
Duran LF
BLUE JAYS
Springer CF
Guerrero Jr. 1B
Semien 2B
Hernandez RF
Dickerson DH
Gurriel Jr. LF
Valera 2B
Espinal 3B
McGuire C
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B8: In a battle between former UConn teammates, George Springer gets the best of Matt Barnes by turning on a fastball over the middle and blasting a three-run homer.
B7: The Jays do their impression of the Red Sox baserunning follies from the sixth inning of Saturday's second game. First, Teoscar Hernandez tries to move up to third on a ball hit right in front of him and is thrown out. Then, Corey Dickerson is picked off second base by Adam Ottavino.
B7: Red Sox bullpen struggling mightily in the seventh, as Hirokazu Sawamura throws seven straight balls and leaves the game with an apparent injury.
T6: Run-scoring single to center for Bobby Dalbec, his second hit of the afternoon. This snaps a streak of 15 straight games in which the Sox failed to score more than five runs.
B5: The Sox have generally kept Vlad Guerrero Jr. under wraps this series, but he gets ahold of a curveball and hits one out with Reese McGuire on base.
T4: Martinez, returning after a day, continues to have good at-bats, singling to left with the bases loaded, scoring two.
B3: Huge inning-ending double play from Corey Dickerson gets Richards out of the mess.
B3: Blue Jays take advantage of a throwing error by Devers and get a run back with two on and just one out.
T3: Encouraging at-bats for Xander Bogaerts -- long flyout to the warning track in center in the first, then a sharp line single to left-center in the third. Turning the corner perhaps?
T2: Strange decision to bunt on the part of Jonathan Arauz after four straight hits against Ryu.
T2: Now it's the Jays' turn to be sloppy. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. makes a careless backhand swipe of a soft flair by J.D. Martinez, allowing Rafael Devers to score all the way from second and Martinez to take third. A follow-up single by Kevin Plawecki then scores Martinez, giving the Sox the lead.
B1: Lot of hard contact early against Garrett Richards, who's allowed three hits and a run five batters into the first.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have lost eight of their last 10 games...They are 10-12 since the All-Star break and 65-48 (.575) overall, the seventh-best record in the majors...After Sunday, the Sox are off tomorrow and 12 of their next 15 games will be played at home. The Sox’ 32-26 (.552) road record ranks 8th in the majors, but they are 5-11 in their last 16 road games...The Sox are 21-10 (.677) at Rogers Centre since the start of 2017. The Red Sox are 33-22 (.600) at home, the fourth-best record in the AL (10th-best in MLB)... They are 18-9 (.667) at home since Fenway opened to full capacity on 5/29, including 14-5 in their last 19 games. ..The Red Sox trail the Rays by 3.0 games, matching their largest deficit of the season...The last time they fell to 3.0 games out of 1st place, they then went 13-4 from June 14 to July 1 and took a 4.5-game lead...The Red Sox have scored five runs or fewer in 15 consecutive games....In that time, they have averaged 2.8 runs per game (42 R) with a .676 OPS. Overall, the Sox rank in the top five in the majors in AVG (fourth .256), SLG (fourth, .435), doubles (first, 232), and XBH (first, 387)...They own MLB’s best records when scoring four or more runs (57-9, .864) and five or more runs (48-5, .906).....The Sox have made four errors in their last 17 games , tied for second -fewest in the AL in that time. The Sox lead MLB with 33 OF assists, seven more than any other team...Sox OFs rank fourth in the AL and 7th in MLB with 14 defensive runs saved (source: FanGraphs). Hunter Renfroe leads the majors with 13 OF assists; 16 teams have fewer than 13 OF assists this season....Rafael Devers played in his 499th MLB game Saturday night and does not turn 25 years old until Oct. 24...He would become only the 12th player to appear in 500 games for the Red Sox before turning 25. Among Red Sox in their first 500 ML games, Devers enters today ranked third in XBH (244), fifth in doubles (137), tied for third in HR (101), and third in RBI (336)...Red Sox pitchers allowed one run in each game of yesterday’s doubleheader (14.0 IP, 2 R)...The Sox have allowed four runs or fewer in 16 of their 22 games since the All-Star break, but they gave up 7+ runs in each of the other 6 games in that span (9, 13, 7, 9, 8, 12). Sox pitchers have issued two walks or fewer in each of their last four games (31 SO, 6 BB). Red Sox relievers rank fifth in the AL and ninth in MLB in ERA (3.68)...They threw 4.1 scoreless innings in Game 2 of yesterday’s doubleheader....In their first nine games out of the All-Star break, Red Sox starters posted a 3.50 ERA ; in 13 games since, they have a 7.08 ERA ...Only 6 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 8 starting pitchers in a season since 1965 (7)....Nick Pivetta retired his first 14 batters faced in Game 1 of yesterday’s doubleheader (6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R)...It was his 5th start in which he threw 5.0+ innings, allowed 0 ER, and gave up two hits or fewer, tied for the most such starts in the majors (also Freddy Peralta and Carlos Rodón)...Each of those starts was against a team that currently has a winning record.....Among the 180 pitchers with at least 50.0 innings this season, Garrett Whitlock ranks first in the AL and second in the majors with a 1.17 ERA (deGrom-1.08). Whitlock has made 20 scoreless appearances of more than an inning, most in MLB...In his last 21 games, he is 4-0 with a 0.54 ERA
NOTES:
* The Red Sox reinstated both J.D. Martinez and Jarren Duran from the IL-COVID list and both are back in the lineup.
* The Red Sox placed OF Alex Verdugo on the paternity list. He's expected to miss the next few games. The Sox also optioned Connor Wong back to Triple A Worcester.
* Chris Sale will make his return to the rotation Saturday at Fenway against Baltimore. It will be his first major league start in two years and a day.
* Tanner Houck, who was optioned back to Worcester after Saturday's second game, will factor into the team's rotation later in the week, though the Sox have not designated a specific game for him.
* When the Sox leave Canada tonight, they'll leave behind two coaches: Will Venable, who tested positive for COVID-19, and first base coach Tom Goodwin, who was deemed to be in close contact with Venable. Venable will have to remain in Canada for approximately two weeks while Goodwin will remain for "five or six days,'' assuming his COVID tests remain negative.