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 no match for Gausman: By now, it should be obvious: the Red Sox can't hit Kevin Gausman. Gausman has started three games against the Red Sox this year and is 2-0 with a no-decision. On Monday, he turned in seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and two walks while fanning 10. In the three games, he's held them to a .203 batting average and has compiled an 0.43 ERA while striking out 27 and walking just two. Whether it was his four-seamer or his patented split-finger fastball, it didn't matter -- the Sox could do little damage against him. And when Gausman got ahead in the count, as he did frequently, it was a mismatch as Red Sox hitters fished for the splitter, bottoming out. In his seven innings of work, the Red Sox managed to get just two runners as far as second base -- neither advanced past there.
Seabold shelled: Connor Seabold fell behind 1-0 after eight pitches. And it got worse from there. Seabold gave up three homers and seven runs in 4.2 innings. He made too many mistakes -- especially leaving two sliders over the middle of the plate -- and suffered the predictable consequences. The Sox were hoping he would give them five innings to save the bullpen and he came within an out of reaching that goal. His changeup was excellent at times, and he had good life to his fastball. Overall, his stuff showed marked improvement over his cameo start a year ago in Chicago against the White Sox. But his slider was, as the pitcher himself observed, "M.I.A. I wasn't able to land it, and when it was off the plate, they weren't chasing it.'' That said, Seabold piled up an incredible 21 swing-and-misses, tying him for the most by any Red Sox starter this season. It hardly reads like an inspiring pitching line, but if you look more closely, there's actually reason to feel a little better about Seabold and his ability to contribute in the big leagues.
TURNING POINT
The Blue Jays were already leading 4-0 in the fifth when they scratched out a run on a force play, making it 5-0. That number seemed imposing, given the game was half over and the Red Sox had shown nothing to suggest that they could mount any sort of meaningful comeback against Gausman. But when Seabold was tagged for a two-run homer by Matt Chapman, stretching the home team's lead to 7-0, things were really over with.
TWO UP
Christian Vazquez: The Red Sox were limited to eight hits as a team, but Vazquez himself collected two of them -- a single in the seventh and another in the ninth as the Sox scratched out two runs.
Red Sox bullpen: The Sox didn't want to burn their bullpen on the first night of the series, and while they used four relievers, they were the arms the Sox usually use when behind and the four combined to toss 3.1 scoreless innings.
TWO DOWN
J.D. Martinez: Martinez came into the game as one of the few Red Sox hitters who had a history of any success against Gausman (6-for-15 with a home run), but you wouldn't have known it from watching the at-bats. Martinez was 0-for-3 against him and 0-for-4 overall.
Trevor Story: Story was particularly overmatched against Gausman on the night, fanning three times in his three plate appearances.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I just ran into a buzzsaw.'' Connor Seabold.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* Jackie Bradley Jr. is in the middle of an 0-for-22 streak.
* The loss dropped the Red Sox to 7-15 within their own division, with a -22 run differential in those games.
* The last time a Red Sox starting pitcher allowed five or more runs this season was on May 26.
* The Sox got a stolen base from Bobby Dalbec and are now 25 for their last 27 in steal attempts.
* The Sox came into the game leading the majors in hits with runners in scoring position, but were just 1-for-7 in that category Monday night.
* The loss marked the first time since May 31 that the Sox dropped the opener of a series.
UP NEXT
The middle game of the series takes place Tuesday night at 7:07 p.m. with the Red Sox sending RHP Michael Wacha ( 6-1, 2.34) to the mound against RHP Ross Stripling (4-2, 3.08).