BSJ Game Report: Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 4 - Sox swept by Jays, fall back to .500

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Blue Jays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Sox ugly slide continues: Here’s hoping that you devoted your baseball-related viewing this afternoon to David Ortiz’s induction speech in Cooperstown — because you didn’t miss a whole lot over at Fenway Park.

While a diminished Sox lineup did manage to chip away at what was a 5-0 Blue Jays lead after just one inning of play, that was all that Toronto needed to complete its weekend sweep of Boston — with the Red Sox ultimately dropping their fifth straight game by way of an 8-4 final on Sunday.

Sure, the Sox avoided giving up 10+ runs for the second-straight game (it’s about the little victories at this stage of the season), but everything that could have gone wrong still did for Alex Cora’s club, especially in an opening frame where a few tough bounces and seeing-eye base hits led to rookie Brayan Bello getting rocked for five runs before many had settled into their seats.

And even though Bello did settle in as the game progressed — and Boston’s bats did manage to do some damage (4-for-10 with runners in scoring position) — the Sox once again made things hard on themselves by way of poor fielding (three errors) and faults in their bullpen (Hirokazu Sawamura tagged for three runs in the fifth).

Boston is now just 1-9 in its last 10 games and 3-13 in its last 16 games, and is now back at .500 (48-48) for the first time since June 5.  

Injuries are not the only issue right now

Yes, the Red Sox are banged up right now. Entering Sunday afternoon, 13 players were etched into Boston’s injured list — including key cogs such as Rafael Devers, Chris Sale, Trevor Story, Kiké Hernandez, Rich Hill, Michael Wacha and more. 

J.D. Martinez, hampered by back spasms, was held out of yet another game. And Xander Bogaerts, despite driving in a run on Sunday, is still dealing with a sore forearm.

Considering that Boston’s lineup the last few days has looked more like a AAA club than an established set of big-league bats, perhaps the Sox deserve a bit of a pass for this dreadful stretch that has carried on for close to a month now. 

But that’d be letting the rest of this roster and front-office personnel off the hook — because the flaws that are scuttling this team go far beyond some dreadful luck with the injury bug.

Sure, the Sox may not have the firepower in their lineup to erase hefty deficits, but Boston can also make things a lot easier on itself by way of basic execution — especially when it comes to fielding. 

Had it not been for a defensive implosion in the fifth inning in which Jeter Downs both committed an error and hit Matt Chapman in the back as he advanced toward home — along with Samamura overrunning the first-base bag — the Sox very well could have been trailing by just a run for most of the afternoon.

And to make matters worse, even if reinforcements do arrive for Boston over the next few weeks, 50 of its 66 remaining games are against teams who entered Sunday with at least a .500 record.

TWO UP

Jackie Bradley Jr.: The Red Sox could desperately use one of those late-summer heaters from Bradley right now. The Sox outfielder went 2-for-4 in Sunday’s loss, including a solo shot into the Monster seats in the sixth inning. 

Jarren Duran: Batting out of the leadoff spot, Duran tried to spark a shorthanded Sox lineup — connecting on both a double and triple while crossing home plate twice. 

TWO DOWN

Jeter Downs: Another rough showing from the rookie, who was knocked for an error along with going 0-for-4 at the plate with two strikeouts. 

Bobby Dalbec: After connecting on two hits (including a home run) on Saturday, Dalbec went 0-for-4 on Sunday with three strikeouts out of the No. 6 spot in the lineup. 

QUOTE OF NOTE

“If my story can remind you of everything, let it remind you that when you believe in Someone, you can change their world, you can change their future.” - David Ortiz 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING 

Four rookie pitchers have started for the Red Sox this season: Josh Winckowski (7 GS), Kutter Crawford (5), Connor Seabold (3), and Brayan Bello (3). The last time the Sox had as many as 4 rookie pitchers make at least 3 starts in a season was 2006 — Jon Lester (15), Lenny DiNardo (6), Kason Gabbard (4) and David Pauley (3) each made at least three starts.

After homering just once in his first 81 games of the season (242 at-bats), Jackie Bradley Jr. has now homered twice in his last three games. 

Over his last five home games, Alex Verdugo is batting .529 (9-for-17).

The Red Sox are now winless in their last seven series. 

Toronto outscored Boston, 40-10, in their three-game sweep. 

 UP NEXT 

The Red Sox will continue their homestand with a four-game set against the Guardians — with RHP Nick Pivetta (8-7, 4.50 ERA) set to battle against RHP Zach Plesac (2-7, 4.02 ERA) in the series opener on Monday. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m.