Final, Red Sox 14-0: And there it is. A season high-tying 20 hits and seven scoreless innings from Jon Lester fuel a rout in the Rogers Centre on a night when the Red Sox really needed it.
Thanks for sticking it out through the end. We are back with you tomorrow night as Tim Wakefield goes for No. 200 for the seventh time.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 14-0: Nate Spears is 0-for-2 in his debut after striking out with two on to end the top of the ninth.
Kyle Weiland will finish this one off what will be the largest margin of victory if the Blue Jays don’t score.
10:04 p.m.: I understand the philosophy behind the Red Sox hitting approach. Work the pitcher, take walks, get to the bullpen early, etc.
But do we really need guys working walks to begin the ninth inning up 14-0. Get your hacks in, fellas.
Jed Lowrie and Kevin Youkilis both draw a free pass from Dustin McGowan, who is now being removed from the game. Joel Carreno is jogging in.
End 8th, Red Sox 14-0: Kyle Weiland needs only 11 pitches to retire the side in the eighth.
Wish I had more to tell you here.
Oh, in case you missed it, Weiland will start Saturday in Tampa Bay opposite Jeremy Hellickson.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 14-0: Josh Reddick just golfed one that hit on the top of the right-field wall and bounced over for his seventh home run of the year.
It’s a huge insurance run.
Jon Lester’s night is over. Kyle Weiland will get some throwing in to Ryan Lavarnway, just like the good old days in Pawtucket.
End 7th, Red Sox 13-0: With Kyle Weiland warming in the pen, Jon Lester tosses his third perfect inning. It ends with his 11th strikeout of the game, which ties a season high.
Lester has reached double figures in Ks 16 times in his career. At 100 pitches, he may be done, but I’m sure he’ll fight to go out there for a little more.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 13-0: David Ortiz has tied a career high with four hits. It is the 15th time he has done that. Perhaps he’ll get a chance in the ninth to get that elusive fifth hit.
Jed Lowrie has taken over for Adrian Gonzalez at first. That’s a good sign, as we know Lowrie’s shoulder is well enough for him to play.
You may see Lowrie in the lineup on Thursday against lefty Ricky Romero.
End 6th, Red Sox 13-0: Jon Lester has a 1.20 ERA over his last five starts, including the first six innings of this one.
Barring the greatest comeback in Ontario baseball history, he will be 4-0 in that stretch.
Lester has thrown 86 pitches after getting through the sixth. Nate Spears made a nice running grab in left for his first major league action.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 13-0: The scoreboard put up a zero in the Red Sox half of the sixth, and instantly curious onlookers flocked to take pictures and discuss the arrival of this strange new numeral.
Then they realized there were already five of them on the Toronto line. Then they grabbed a Molson and went to the Tragically Hip show.
God, that sounds nice right about now. If you don’t like the Hip, you don’t like life.
Anyway, the Sox were held without a run for the first time. We figured you had gathered that from the inane blather, but now you know for sure.
Dustin Pedroia is 0-for-5. The rest of the team is 18-for-31 (.581).
Josh Reddick is in right field. Darnell McDonald moves to center. Jacoby Ellsbury moves to his hotel room. Oh, and Mike Aviles has replaced Pedroia at second.
End 5th, Red Sox 13-0: The Blue Jays got a man to second base for the first time in this one when J.P. Arencibia reached on an infield single and advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch.
Terry Francona immediately got Bard and Papelbon up.
Just kidding. He actually told them to go out, get a nice steak and catch a late showing of something. They could probably take the rest of the bullpen with them. Maybe leave someone to throw the ninth or something.
Jon Lester is at 74 pitches through five. Unless there’s someone Francona is dying to get in this game, Lester should go at least seven, despite the big lead. At least that’s my opinion.
Lester has nine strikeouts.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 13-0: This is a strange, strange game.
The Red Sox go 11 innings without scoring a run on Monday. They’ve scored at least two runs in each of the five frames in this one.
They score two more on three hits in the fifth and remain on pace to break the team record for hits in a game.
Adrian Gonzalez singled, David Ortiz doubled and Marco Scutaro drove them both in with his career high-tying third double of the game.
I feel dirty watching this game. Not like really, really dirty, but the way you feel when you see like a Hooters pageant on FX at 1 a.m.
Nate Spears has entered the game in place of Carl Crawford. This is the major league debut for Spears.
End 4th, Red Sox 11-0: In a game like this the only thing you worry about is some kind of freak injury.
A few people in living rooms around New England likely just gasped as Jacoby Ellsbury and Darnell McDonald nearly collided in the gap in right-center.
McDonald raced in front of a sliding Ellsbury to make the catch for the final out of a 1-2-3 fourth. No rib injuries there.
Lester has seven strikeouts through four. His career high is 13. Man, we’re mentioning a lot of superlatives tonight.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 11-0: You might recall the last time the Red Sox visited Toronto. They outscored the Jays 35-6.
While yesterday’s game looked nothing like that series, today does. Boston is hammering the ball all over the place.
A Kevin Youkilis base hit began the fourth. David Ortiz followed with an RBI double to straightaway center that should’ve been a triple had he not admired it out of the box, for the ball hit the wall on a fly and then bounced back toward second base. By the time right fielder Jose Bautista played it, Ortiz was still making his way to second. He should’ve had his second triple of the year, not that it really matters except to give me something to write about.
Anyway, Ortiz became the 10th run of the game when red-hot Marco Scutaro doubled for the second time in the game.
But wait, there’s more! Darnell McDonald hit a bloop single to right to plate Scutaro.
The team high for hits in a game is 20. With 15, the Sox are on pace to shatter that and even on pace to break the team record of 28, accomplished against St. Louis in 1950 and in 2003 aginst Florida. Their season high for runs is 16.
End 3rd, Red Sox 8-0: There are times when a manager will get their pitchers out of a blowout early as there’s no need to waste bullets when the game is out of hand.
This might be the kind of game where Terry Francona goes in the other direction. He has no Alfredo Aceves, likely no Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard and Dan Wheeler also threw yesterday.
The day before that Felix Doubront, Matt Albers and Michael Bowden each appeared, the second two throwing more than 30 pitches.
There probably won’t be a need for Bard and Pap and Aceves, but the point is simply that much of the pen could use a night off. A solid seven, eight or nine from Lester would be nice, especially with what’s on the horizon.
Lester is through three at 47 pitches.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 8-0: Rommie Lewis strikes out Adrian Gonzalez to finish the third.
This is about the best-case scenario for the Red Sox. Just as they get relatively good news on Josh Beckett, they give Jon Lester a huge lead.
As mentioned before, with a quartet of Wakefield, Miller, Lackey and Weiland on the horizon, this kind of a game is almost imperative.
By the way, with Salty’s blast the Sox have six guys with at least 15 home runs.
8:12 p.m.: I haven’t seen a pitcher look that hittable in a long time. Everything flat, straight, in the zone.
Well, Luis Perez did walk two batters, so he missed thezone a few times, but the Red Sox had 10 hits against him in just 2 2/3 innings and almost all of them were crushed.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia just hammered a two-run homer to center. Darnell McDonald followed with a hit and Dustin Pedroia roped one to third base one out later that bounced off Brett Lawrie.
That went in the books as an error but it was one of the hardest hits all night. The Sox have runners at the corners and lefty Rommie Lewis is into the game.
End 2nd, Red Sox 6-0: That was a very Jon Lester-like inning. Three strikeouts and a walk.
An alert reader, Rob Williams, pointed out that Jacoby Ellsbury became the second AL player to score 100 runs with his run in the second. I actually noticed it when he hit 99, but the Josh Beckett news became a distraction.
What Josh Beckett news? This Josh Beckett news, per team medical director Dr. Tom Gill:
“Josh was evaluated today at the Massachusetts General Hospital by the Red Sox medical staff, including team foot and ankle specialist, Dr. George Theodore. Josh experienced pain in his ankle while pitching last night. His examination was consistent with an ankle sprain. An MRI was performed that confirmed no other injury to his ankle tendons, or his Achilles tendon. We will re-evaluate his symptoms and availability later this week.”
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 6-0: Well, this game’s over. Not officially, but in my head they’re already shaking hands.
Luis Perez followed up a four-run first by walking Jacoby Ellsbury to start the second. That’s always a nice way to begin a bounce-back inning.
Ellsbury moved to second on a wild pitch and third on a grounder. He scored on Adrian Gonzalez’s second run-scoring hit of the night. Gonzalez later came in when Kevin Youkilis doubled to the deepest part of the park.
That is the first RBI for Youkilis since Aug. 14.
End 1st, Red Sox 4-0: Jon Lester works around a leadoff single in the first.
More importantly, the Red Sox announced the results of Josh Beckett’s exam in Boston today.
Beckett has a sprained right ankle, which was the original diagnosis, and there is no ligament or tendon damage. That is a relief for the righty, who will miss his next start but should be able to return once that thing dies down a bit.
How long that will be remains to be seen, but at least there was nothing extra going on there.
Mid 1st, Red Sox 4-0: Coming into the game you would think that the Red Sox would do well to work Luis Perez early. He is making just his fourth major league start and has never thrown more than 95 pitches.
They certainly worked him over pretty good in the first.
Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 11 games after doubling to lead off the game, and his base running gives the Red Sox the game’s first run.
With one out and Ellsbury on second, Adrian Gonzalez blooped one to left. Left fielder Eric Thames was so deep he might as well have been in Manitoba and both he and shortstop Yunel Escobar watched it fall in.
Ellsbury played it halfway and then bolted the second the ball bounced in, scoring just ahead of Escobar’s throw. Gonzalez raced to second with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on David Ortiz’s single to right.
Marco Scutaro singled in Kevin Youkilis, who had walked, and Carl Crawford followed with an RBI double, still with just one out.
Perez finally escapes after getting the next two hitters, but he is forced to throw 39 pitches. The Jays already had action in their pen.
7:09 p.m.: Jacoby Ellsbury takes strike one to get this thing started.
7:02 p.m.: We have passed on the following statistic a few times of late. It’s worth repeating with lefty Luis Perez on the mound for Toronto tonight.
The Red Sox opened the season 27-12 against left-handed pitching. They are 3-7 since with losses in four straight.
6:00 p.m.: OK, it’s time for some nightly links to get you all read up on the Red Sox.
You may want to begin with this week’s edition of the Red Sox Mailbag, where we address the concerns of some fans about to leap off the ledge.
Also, you may have noticed that almost every recent Red Sox opponent has had some really, really good young players making everyday contributions. If not, click the link. Do it.
Here is a leftover piece from last night focusing on the Red Sox priorities going forward, or at least what they need to be.
Finally, here are some words from Daniel Bard on the importance of keeping things light in order to alleviate the stressors of a long season.
No direct link for this next item, but in the probables listed in the prior post you can put Lester in for Sunday at Tampa Bay, as expected. So it will be Lackey-Davis, Weiland-Hellickson and Lester-Shields in St. Pete.
And for those of you still hoping to see Clay Buchholz pitch again this season, we know that he will attempt to get on a mound toward the end of the team’s next homestand, which ends Sept. 21.
4:38 p.m.: The rotation and matchups going forward are beginning to take shape. Terry Francona just told reporters in Toronto that Josh Beckett is still being examined but will probably miss his next start.
And Joe Maddon has announced his probables for the series in St. Pete this weekend.
Let us look at what we know right now, day by day:
Wednesday at Toronto: Tim Wakefield vs. Brandon Morrow.
Thursday at Toronto: Andrew Miller vs. Ricky Romero
Friday at Tampa Bay: John Lackey vs. Wade Davis.
Saturday at Tampa Bay: Kyle Weiland vs. Jeremy Hellickson.
Sunday at Tampa Bay: TBA vs. James Shields.
If Beckett has a miraculous recovery, he could go Sunday in Tropicana Field, but don’t count on it, even if the news of the exam is good. Jon Lester can take that start on normal rest. Another option would be Erik Bedard, but that is just two days after his originally scheduled start Friday, so that wouldn’t give him much more of a break than the club intended when it chose to skip his turn. He may need a few more days.
Stay tuned.
4:07 p.m.: It’s safe to say the Red Sox could use one of those Jon Lester specials. Eight innings, four hits, one run, 10 Ks…that kinda thing.
It would really mean a lot when you think about what’s on the horizon (a potential foursome of Tim Wakefield, Andrew Miller, Kyle Weiland and John Lackey).
In an effort to pick up his boys, Lester will try to tame this lineup for Toronto:
Yunel Escobar, SS
Eric Thames, LF
Jose Bautista, RF
Adam Lind, 1B
Edwin Encarnacion, DH
Kelly Johnson, 2B
Brett Lawrie, 3B
J.P. Arencibia, C
Mike McCoy, CF
Bautista is 8-for-36 (.222) but three of his eight hits are homers and he has drawn five walks. Lind, who seems to have gaudy numbers or horrendous numbers against each Red Sox pitcher, is 3-for-21 (.143) with nine strikeouts.
The lineup as a whole is 20-for-89 (.225) against Lester.
3:38 p.m.: We should have some word on Josh Beckett soon, and perhaps see if there’s anything more than continued rest for Jed Lowrie, who has now been out of the starting lineup three straight times since leaving Saturday’s game with left shoulder tightness.
Lowrie figured to be in there against a lefty, especially since we are just a couple of days removed from Terry Francona telling us that Marco Scutaro was “a little beat up.”
Lowrie’s shoulder issue grew in intensity the last time it bothered him. Hopefully, that’s not the case this time and he can come back for the final 20 games or so.
2:09 p.m.: Another slight twist to the lineup today. Marco Scutaro is starting a game batting sixth for just the second time since May 29, 2008, when he was with Toronto. He did so once back in April of this year.
Here’s today’s look:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Marco Scutaro, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Darnell McDonald, RF
Scutaro is batting .320 (24-for-75) with 13 RBIs in his last 20 games, so perhaps Terry Francona is just trying to move a hot bat up a bit.
8 a.m. ET: Desperate for a solid start, the Red Sox turn to wins leader Jon Lester on Tuesday in the second of four straight games at Toronto.
Lester will be tasked with eating up innings after the bullpen threw six innings in Monday’s 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays. Alfredo Aceves is most certainly not available after throwing 56 pitches, and Jonathan Papelbon is coming off a 27-pitch appearance. Daniel Bard and Dan Wheeler also appeared Monday.
Lester has allowed exactly one earned run in each of his last four starts but lasted just five innings against the Yankees his last time out. He is 9-4 with a 3.27 ERA in his career versus Toronto.
The Jays will send rookie lefty Luis Perez to the mound. After making 29 relief appearances, Perez is 1-0 with a 3.94 ERA in three starts.
Perez will throw his first pitch at 7:07 p.m.
