4 takeaways as slumping Red Sox suffer sweep following 13-1 loss to Blue Jays
Boston has dropped seven of eight and is back in last place in the division.
COMMENTARY
It wasn’t quite as gruesome as last year, when the Blue Jays outscored the Red Sox, 40-10, in a dominant three-game sweep early in the second half of the season.
That series, which featured a 28-run outburst from Toronto in the opener, will be extremely difficult to top.
This weekend’s series did, however, have a similar feel, in the sense that the Red Sox were outmatched against a far superior opponent. Toronto cruised to a 13-1 victory Sunday at Fenway Park, punctuating a decisive sweep in which it outscored Boston, 25-8.
Thirteen runs is the most the Red Sox have allowed in a game this season.
“There’s not much we have to say,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “They outplayed us the whole weekend. We’ve been through stuff like this the whole season. Up and down.”
Much like last year, these are two teams trending in opposite directions. The Red Sox (57-54), losers of four straight and seven of eight, are back in the cellar of the American League East. The Blue Jays (63-50), winners of four of five and nine of 14, are in a prime position to make a push for the playoffs.
This was a big series, and the Red Sox squandered the opportunity.
What could have been a pivotal series for the better instead morphed into a disaster for the Red Sox.
They played sloppy baseball in key moments – everything from fielding errors to undisciplined plate appearances to base-running blunders – and their approach of starting relievers and cobbling together outings backfired.
Toronto racked up 14 hits in game one, 14 more in game two, and 15 in game three. The Blue Jays’ depth in their lineup was on full display, while the Red Sox’ lack of depth lower in the lineup was also prominent.
There was some buzz heading into the series, and now there’s less buzz and more frustration than there’s been in quite some time. The organization’s decision to do just about nothing at the deadline is looming large.
The good news is that the Red Sox have the Royals, Tigers, and Nationals on the horizon. The bad news is that it won’t matter who they face if they keep playing like this.
“We’ve got to shake it off and move forward and get ready for tomorrow,” Justin Turner said.
Much like Saturday, a Red Sox miscue led to a flurry of Blue Jays runs.
For the second-straight day, a fielding mistake from the Red Sox led to a big third inning for the Blue Jays.
In Saturday’s game, Rafael Devers threw the ball away. In Sunday’s, Jarren Duran chased down a ball in right-center field but couldn’t corral it as it skipped into the bleachers for a ground-rule double.
If Duran had caught it, the Red Sox would have gotten out of the inning unscathed. Instead, Matt Chapman doubled off the Green Monster, Cavan Biggio doubled, and Kevin Kiermaier singled, helping Toronto take a 4-0 edge through three.
“I didn’t execute pitches with two strikes,” reliever Chris Murphy said. “I also didn’t get to two strikes a whole lot.”
Duran’s play went down as a hit officially, but it was a catch he should have made. It wasn’t anywhere close to his blunder last year against Toronto, when he looked up and the ball fell way over his head, but it was significant nonetheless.
Cora said it wasn’t an easy catch to make, but he knew Duran would take ownership. Duran called it “terrible leadership” on his part for not communicating to right fielder Alex Verdugo beforehand and letting him know Verdugo should take a ball in that spot because of the sun.
“It was just an all-around terrible play on my part,” Duran said. “It’s totally on me. I should have made the play. I didn’t communicate … I just lost it. I got those little black dots in my eyes, and I just totally blew it.”
It was a tough day for Duran, who went 0-for-5 and is now hitless in his last 10 at-bats.
Then it went from bad to worse.
The Blue Jays added two more in the fifth, on a two-run shot from Davis Schneider, then scored five more in the sixth to put the game out of reach. They kept it rolling in the seventh and eighth.
Murphy allowed six runs in 2 1/3 innings, Mauricio Llovera surrendered five in 1 1/3 innings, and that was more than enough for the Blue Jays to run away with it.
Triston Casas blasted a solo shot in the fourth off Toronto starter Chris Bassitt. Verdugo added three hits a day after he was benched. Masataka Yoshida, Turner, Rafael Devers, and Luis Urías chipped in a hit apiece. Starter Brennan Bernardino was solid on the mound in his lone inning.
Many individuals contributed in spurts, but the collective effort wasn’t even close to good enough.
Pablo Reyes provided some fireworks in the ninth.
Cora gave infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes a chance to pitch in the ninth, and he didn’t squander it.
Reyes loaded the bases but managed to escape unscathed. He mixed and matched his pitches, throwing a 37.6 mile-per-hour curveball (seriously, look it up) on one and an 83.9 mile-per-hour fastball on the next to keep hitters “guessing.”
He got Whit Merrifield to ground out, George Springer to ground out, and Biggio to fly out. Fans got a kick out of it and gave him an ovation as he came to the plate in the bottom of the frame.
That was one of the few bright spots on a day of debacles for the Red Sox.
“It’s baseball. It happens,” Duran said. “Sometimes you get knocked down and it’s hard to get back up.”
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