Final, Blue Jays 9-3: Just to rub it in, the Blue Jays turned a remarkable, and rare, 6-5-3 double play at second base (third baseman was on right side of bag in dramatic David Ortiz shift, and fielded the flip from a diving Yunel Escobar before throwing to first) to highlight the last inning of a quick two-game sweep.
Boston has a much-needed day off Thursday before beginning a series in New York that is about as critical as one can be in the middle of May.
Look for plenty as we approach that set, and then follow the live blog from Yankee Stadium on Friday night. It will be Clay Buchholz and Bartolo Colon in the opener.
End 8th, Blue Jays 9-3: If every score holds up, the Red Sox will be tied with Toronto and Baltimore, percentage points ahead of the Orioles but technically in a three-way tie for third/last.
Meanwhile, the Yankees would be seven games ahead of Boston in the loss column. Maybe it’s “still early” but at some point that becomes a tough deficit to overcome. Makes this weekend pretty darn important.
Mid 8th, Blue Jays 9-3: The Red Sox are three outs away from another loss. Another casualty might be Jacoby Ellsbury’s hitting streak.
Ellsbury is 0-for-4 after leading off the eighth with a comebacker.
End 7th, Blue Jays 9-3: This one just fell apart in a hurry. Tim Wakefield comes on and immediately serves up a two-run single to that guy, Rajai Davis, and Toronto is coasting.
Daniel Bard, Alfredo Aceves and Matt Albers have all been used plenty of late. And Rich Hill got four outs last night so he might not have been available.
Because of it, Terry Francona had to stick with John Lackey when the Blue Jays loaded the bases with two outs. All Lackey needed to do was retire the rookie, David Cooper, and the Sox would’ve entered the last two frames down one. We will have to hear what Francona says about the pen, and who was usable.
He couldn’t, walking Cooper to force in a run, and then it all fell apart.
Lackey’s line: 6 2/3 IP, 9 H, 9 ER, 5 BB, 1 K
That’s the third time this year he has given up at least eight runs. Ouch. His ERA is at 8.01.
9:27 p.m.: Simply put, the Red Sox bullpen is gassed, and because of that Terry Francona needed everything he could get out of John Lackey. Francona held on as long as he could in the seventh, but now this one has just about gotten away.
Lackey walks in a run and then gives up a two-run double to John McDonald and finally gets the hook after a season-high 118 pitches. McDonald has three RBIs, the last two to make it 7-3.
A leadoff walk started the whole mess. A single and then back-to-back free passes made it 5-3. Both Jon Lester and John Lackey walked five, and both gave up one with the bases loaded.
Mid 7th, Blue Jays 4-3: Even if he wasn’t getting on base enough, you figured Carl Crawford would still steal bases at his usual rate. It’s a small sample, but he is just 5-for-8 on attempts after being thrown out trying to nab second.
Want to echo our friend Gregg Zaun on something he said about Jarrod Saltalamachhia hitting a long foul ball into “big boy land.”
Said it last night that when the young catcher makes good contact, the ball just soars off his bat. Just hasn’t done it enough yet.
End 6th, Blue Jays 4-3: He’s a bulldog, folks. John Lackey has settled things down enough to get the Red Sox to the seventh down one.
And at 94 pitches, he should get another inning, setting him up perfectly for that 6-5 win I predicted a few innings ago.
Mid 6th, Blue Jays 4-3: Adrian Gonzalez entered the night tied for the AL lead in RBIs. The solo homer gives him 29, but 14 in the last 10 games alone.
That’s a Hack Wilson-ian pace.
8:53 p.m.: At least Adrian Gonzalez showed up to play. Well, him and David Ortiz.
Gonzalez just homered for the third time in the series, the fourth time in his last three games and for the sixth time in his last nine. Yes, it was a blast to left.
Ortiz went to right one out later, chasing Jesse Litsch. Casey Janssen is on in relief.
Having Gonzalez as a keeper on my fantasy team know he has weeks like this. He isn’t necessarily a streaky guy, but his hot stretches are really something. But as I mentioned last night, this could be one of those streaks he sustains all year. Not that he will hit a homer every night, but now that he’s in a good lineup and a hitter’s park, there may be no real extended down time for Gonzalez. The numbers could be scary good.
End 5th, Blue Jays 4-1: This has all the makings of a 6-5 John Lackey win, doesn’t it?
Lackey has his first scoreless inning since the second. Jesse Litsch will begin the sixth with a pitch count of 81. Coincidentally, so will Lackey.
Their similarities end after the identical pitch count.
Mid 5th, Blue Jays 4-1: Wasted opportunities have certainly been a big part of the Red Sox’ 17-19 start. Another one in the fifth.
J.D. Drew and Carl Crawford reached to start the inning, but a strikeout and two grounders to the left side allows Jesse Litsch to get through five.
It is a 1-for-6 w/RISP night so far for Boston.
End 4th, Blue Jays 4-1: Not sure what will frustrate Red Sox fans more, John Lackey putting a ball on a tee for John McDonald to crush, or Rajai Davis continuing to run wild.
Maybe the answer is both. The pitch to McDonald was extremely meaty (I’m hungry), and he hammered it over the wall in left. Davis followed a single, and just as he did last night, stole second and third and scored on a sacrifice fly.
John Farrell continues to run all over his former team, although Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s throws really were not that bad. Davis is just that fast.
Mid 4th, Blue Jays 2-1: Jesse Litsch just earned some gold stars and a few fans, not with his second straight 1-2-3 inning, but with his all-out effort for a David Ortiz foul pop down the third-base line.
You just don’t see pitchers do that all too often, but Litsch knew that with the defense in a shift to the right side, he had the best chance at a ball that landed in the front row.
Litsch has retired eight straight, one of which was a double play grounder, so he has nine straight outs since J.D. Drew’s single to start the second. And there hasn’t been any good contact in that stretch.
End 3rd, Blue Jays 2-1: Last night was as see-saw as they come. John Lackey’s brutal bottom of the third allows the theme to remain in place.
Lackey started the frame by giving up a single, a walk and a single, the last a hit by Corey Patterson to score a run. After a walk to load the bases and a strikeout, the Jays got an RBI groundout off the bat of Aaron Hill to take the lead.
Lackey’s ERA sits at 7.07.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: Jesse Litsch just needed seven pitches to get three straight groundouts, sending this one back to John Lackey.
You might recall the last time Lackey pitched here. It was memorable, for all the wrong reasons.
Lackey pitched eight spectacular innings and carried a 5-2 lead into the ninth. Terry Francona yanked him after Jose Bautista led off the ninth with a solo shot, and Jonathan Papelbon proceeded to fall apart in his effort to close it out.
Toronto got two doubles, two singles and a steal against Papelbon. Daniel Bard came in with still only one out and got a fly ball to center field that scored the winning run from third. Sound familiar?
End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: Hmmm…interesting. Rookie David Cooper hits a game-tying home run and then the game-winning sacrifice fly last night. John Lackey throws a high hard one right at his head in his first plate appearance of this one.
Fortunately, it only glanced off Cooper’s shoulder, but was a message sent? Message being, do not mess with John Lackey.
Considering the Sox hit two Blue Jays batters last night, there could be some talking in that Toronto dugout. Something to keep an eye on.
Lackey stranded Cooper with a grounder to Jose Iglesias.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: Jarrod Saltalamacchia did ground into a double play to end the top of the second, but it came on the ninth pitch of his encounter with Jesse Litsch.
Pretty good battle by Saltalalamacchia right there.
Saltalamacchia has been very quietly swinging a slightly better bat. It’s not much, but he has hit .250 in his last eight starts and had a huge RBI single last night. If that is the kind of production he provides, while improving behind the plate, the Sox will be happy. They don’t need him to win any Triple Crowns.
End 1st, Red Sox 1-0: Surely there were a few groans when John Lackey threw a ball away for an error in the first. But it doesn’t hurt him any, and the big righty gets through the first unharmed.
The error occured when Lackey caught a popped up bunt following a leadoff single. He caught it and tried to get the runner off first but threw it down the line.
Two foul outs kept the runner stuck on first and got Lackey into the dugout having thrown 14 pitches.
Mid 1st, Red Sox 1-0: Adrian Gonzalez is driving this train, folks. He continues his torrid pace with a two-out double off the wall in center and scores when Kevin Youkilis lines a single to left.
Gonzalez just missed what would’ve been his sixth home run in nine games.
7:08 p.m.: The first pitch to Jacoby Ellsbury is a ball, and we are under way.
6:07 p.m.: For those of you interested in any pregame talk on John Lackey and a look around the league, listen to my talk with the great Lauren Shehadi of CBS Sports.
And if anyone out there is a Twitter follower and wants to add me to your list, please do so here. I promise to not overwhelm you with inane garbage. We keep it pretty tight to the vest.
5:40 p.m.: A few notes on Jacoby Ellsbury’s hitting streak, which is beginning to get very interesting. There’s some nice symmetry to the numbers heading into this one.
If and when Ellsbury extends his streak to 20 games, it will be the 40th run of that length in team history.
Twelve streaks ended exactly at 20, including one by Babe Ruth, two by Fred Lynn and two by Tris Speaker. If Ellsbury gets to 21 games, it will be one of 28 streaks in franchise history. If he gets to 22, it will be one of the 25 longest, and it will tie a career high. If he extends it all the way to 23, he will have a personal best and also tie Kevin Youkilis for the longest career hitting streak among active Red Sox players.
Youkilis hit in 23 straight in 2007.
This is the longest run by a Boston hitter since Victor Martinez had a 25-game streak in 2009.
Oh, by the way, Martinez is 15-for-30 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in eight games for Detroit since coming off the disabled list earlier this month. I’m just sayin’.
4:34 p.m.: It’s been an extreme roller coaster ride for John Lackey thus far. Three solid starts, three that were tough to look at.
In his effort to get back on the positive side of things, Lackey will face a group of Blue Jays hitters against whom he has had success.
There are five guys in the Toronto lineup — Corey Patterson, Jose Bautista, Aaron Hill, John McDonald and Rajai Davis — who have faced Lackey at least 10 times. They are a combined 15-for-84 (.179) with 23 strikeouts and seven walks vs. Lackey.
Hey, it’s something, right?
Here is the complete batting order for the hosts:
Yunel Escobar, SS
Corey Patterson, LF
Jose Bautista, RF
Juan Rivera, DH
Aaron Hill, 2B
J.P. Arencibia, C
David Cooper, 1B
John McDonald, 3B
Rajai Davis, CF
3:10 p.m.: Jose Iglesias will be getting his first major league start Wednesday. We thought it would take longer for this to happen, but Jed Lowrie has been battling an illness.
Here is the lineup Wednesday in Toronto:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Jose Iglesias, SS
8 a.m.: John Lackey was booed off the mound at Fenway Park the last time he took the mound. He will look to win back some of the fans Wednesday when he leads the Red Sox into another matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Lackey gave up eight runs in four-plus innings against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last week. However, he has given up just one run in 14 innings over his last two starts on the road, and lasted into the ninth inning in his last start at Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays, who won the opener Tuesday night in 10 innings, will turn to Jesse Litsch. The young righty is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA at home this year.
The first pitch of this one is set for 7:07 p.m.
