The Boston Red Sox’s offense flipped the script north of the border.
The Red Sox scored eight runs in the first inning Thursday en route to a 12-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The emphatic victory came one day after the Blue Jays jumped all over Rick Porcello in the first inning en route to handing the Red Sox a loss.
Wednesday’s hiccup looms large, mostly because Porcello’s struggles are so problematic. But it’s hard to complain about the totality of Boston’s road trip, especially given Thursday’s bounce-back effort.
The Red Sox took two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays and then three of four from the Blue Jays.
GAME IN A WORD
Bizarre.
There was no shortage of strange moments. There was Boston’s eight-run first inning, Wade Miley’s tightrope walk and Mookie Betts gunning down a runner at the plate in the fifth inning on a play in which both Ryan Hanigan missed the tag and Danny Valencia missed the plate on his slide. (That’s just a small sample of the oddities.)
But perhaps the strangest aspect of the game was that Boston’s lead never seemed safe until the later innings. The Red Sox knocked Blue Jays starter Matt Boyd from the game before the left-hander recorded a single out, yet Boston was forced to sweat out several situations, in large because Miley struggled to find the strike zone.
A win is a win. But it wasn’t as easy as the final score suggests.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
The Red Sox tacked on three runs in the seventh inning.
The Blue Jays scored four runs in the second inning to cut the Red Sox’s lead in half. Miley fought his way off the ropes with the bases loaded by retiring Chris Colabello via a ground ball to the left side.
Toronto loaded the bases again in the fourth inning and had a runner thrown out at the plate on a controversial call in the fifth inning. It took a three-run output in the seventh for the Red Sox to breathe a little easier.
Pablo Sandoval singled and advanced two bases on a pair of wild pitches by Steve Delabar. (More strangeness.) The Panda scored when Alejandro De Aza doubled into right field.
Mookie Betts knocked in De Aza, who advanced to third on Delabar’s third wild pitch of the inning, with a single that trickled through the right side of the infield. Xander Bogaerts plated Boston’s third run of the inning — 11th of the game — with an infield single.
ON THE BUMP
— Somehow, Miley lived to tell the tale.
There was a point in the second inning when it looked like Miley would follow in Boyd’s footsteps and receive an early hook. The left-hander managed to make it through five innings, though. He allowed four earned runs on seven hits and seven walks while striking out two.
The worst thing a pitcher can do when afforded a big lead is fail to throw strikes. Miley did that, resulting in 14 baserunners and a game that was way too close for comfort, all things considered.
— Alexi Ogando threw 34 pitches (23 strikes) over two scoreless innings. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out three.
— Matt Barnes allowed two hits and struck out one in a scoreless eighth inning.
— Craig Breslow surrendered back-to-back home runs to Russell Martin and Valencia in the ninth inning. He allowed three hits total.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox finished with a season-high 19 hits. Five of them went for extra bases.
The Sox opened the game with six consecutive hits, including back-to-back home runs by David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez.
Boston was 9-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
— Ortiz’s home run — a three-run shot to left field — was his 14th of the season. It also marked his 39th career homer at Rogers Centre, which is the most of any visitor in the ballpark’s history.
— Ramirez’s first-inning homer was his only hit of the contest. He tattooed a 2-1 changeup to left field.
— Bogaerts and Brock Holt each had four hits. Bogaerts knocked in two runs.
— Sandoval had a couple of hits and scored two runs.
— Mike Napoli doubled in the eighth inning. He scored two runs.
— De Aza has been a stud since being acquired from the Baltimore Orioles. He finished a home run shy of the cycle.
De Aza racked up four RBIs. He tripled home two runs in the first inning, doubled home a run in the seventh and singled home a run in the eighth.
— Ryan Hanigan was the only Red Sox starter without a hit. He did, however, walk and score a run in his first game since May 1.
Hanigan was activated from the 60-day disabled list before the game.
TWEET OF THE GAME
A tweet oozing with patriotism always catches my eye.
[tweet https://twitter.com/SurvivingGrady/status/616799808192249857Â align=’center’%5D
UP NEXT
The Red Sox will return home Friday night for the start of a three-game series against the first-place Houston Astros. Justin Masterson is scheduled to face Dan Straily in the opener.
Thumbnail photo via Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports Images
