Final, Blue Jays 8-0: Rob Rasmussen fights through two no-out walks to wrap this game up for the Blue Jays, but the Red Sox might have bigger things to worry about.
David Ortiz appeared to tweak his back while checking his swing with two outs, and he was removed from the game by John Farrell and the Red Sox’s coaching staff. Jonny Gomes replaced Ortiz and flied out to end the game.
We’ll have plenty more on Ortiz’s condition as more information becomes available.
End 8th, Blue Jays 8-0: The Blue Jays tack on an insurance run in the eighth.
Jose Reyes led off the inning with a base hit and came all the way around to score on Melky Cabrera’s third double of the game.
Cabrera was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple, though, and Edward Mujica retired Jose Bautista and Dioner Navarro to end the inning.
Rob Rasmussen will look to close this one out for the Jays.
Mid 8th, Blue Jays 7-0: Todd Redmond gets through the eighth without much resistance.
The reliever walked Stephen Drew with one out but retired his other three opponents via flyout, strikeout and groundout.
Drew’s free pass extended his on-base streak to 10 games.
Edward Mujica will be the Red Sox’s pitcher for the bottom of the eighth.
End 7th, Blue Jays 7-0: Felix Doubront allows a two-out single to Ryan Goins but is otherwise perfect in the seventh.
Doubront got pinch hitter Steve Tolleson and Juan Francisco to fly out and ended the inning by striking out Anthony Gose looking.
Mid 7th, Blue Jays 7-0: Marcus Stroman’s no-no is no more.
Shane Victorino led off the seventh inning with a bloop single to break up the rookie’s no-hit bid.
That’s about all the Red Sox did in the seventh, though. David Ortiz flied out to left, and Mike Napoli grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Felix Doubront will come on to pitch the bottom of the seventh for Boston.
End 6th, Blue Jays 7-0: Burke Badenhop digs himself a hole but is able to climb out of it without the Blue Jays creating any more work for the scoreboard operator.
Three consecutive batters reached after Jose Reyes’ leadoff flyout. Melky Cabrera doubled to reach base for the third time today, and Jose Bautista and Dioner Navarro both worked walks. Baustista’s free pass took nine pitches, but Navarro needed just four.
Dan Johnson grounded into a double play with the bases loaded, though, keeping the Jays off the board.
Mid 6th, Blue Jays 7-0: Marcus Stroman has retired the last 11 batters he’s faced.
Stroman put down Jackie Bradley Jr. and Christian Vazquez via groundout in the sixth and struck out Brock Holt for the third time today.
This is Holt’s first three-strikeout game since May 30, when he was punched out three times in a win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
End 5th, Blue Jays 7-0: Burke Badenhop couldn’t escape the difficult situation he’d been thrust into.
Badenhop was able to get one quick out, as Munenori Kawasaki lined out to Stephen Drew at short.
Juan Francisco followed by smacking a base hit into left field, though, scoring Jose Bautista and Dioner Navarro to put Toronto up by a touchdown. Francisco, who has driven in four runs on the day, now is a double shy of the cycle.
A Badenhop wild pitch then put two men in scoring position with one out, but consecutive groundouts to Mike Napoli at first prevented the Jays from doing any additional damage.
Bottom 5th, Blue Jays 5-0: Rubby De La Rosa allows the first three Blue Jays batters to reach in the fifth, and that’ll do it for his outing. Burke Badenhop comes in from the bullpen with the bases loaded and nobody out.
De La Rosa hit Jose Bautista in the ribs with a pitch to open the inning, and Dioner Navarro and Dan Johnson followed with back-to-back singles. Jackie Bradley Jr. almost was able to track down Johnson’s sinking liner, but he did a nice job of keeping it in front of him to prevent Bautista from scoring.
Mid 5th, Blue Jays 5-0: The Red Sox have been no-hit through five innings.
Marcus Stroman again induced a leadoff groundout — this one from Daniel Nava — before striking out the next two Red Sox batters. Stephen Drew went down looking on a fastball right down the middle, and Xander Bogaerts whiffed on a 1-2 heater to end the inning.
End 4th, Blue Jays 5-0: There’s the JBJ that Sox fans know and love.
Jackie Bradley Jr. chased down a Melky Cabrera fly ball in the gap and fired to first base to double off Jose Reyes, completing Rubby De La Rosa’s first scoreless frame of the day.
It was Bradley’s 12th outfield assist of the season — tying him for the American League lead — and his seventh double play. No other major league outfielder has more than three, according to Red Sox PR.
Anthony Gose failed on a bunt attempt to lead off the inning, and Reyes singled into center for his first hit of the game.
Mid 4th, Blue Jays 5-0: Nothing doing for the Red Sox against Marcus Stroman, who has struck out three of the last four batters he’s faced.
Shane Victorino grounded out to shortstop before David Ortiz and Mike Napoli both went down by way of the K.
End 3rd, Blue Jays 5-0: Juan Francisco is having quite the afternoon, and the Blue Jays have broken this one open.
After Dioner Navarro led off the inning with a single, Dan Johnson followed by popping out to third base for the first out. Rubby De La Rosa then made a nifty play to snag a soft grounder off the bat of Munenori Kawasaki and get the lead runner at second.
It looked as if De La Rosa might escape with his first scoreless inning of the day, but Juan Francisco, who tripled and scored the Jays’ first run, had other ideas. The big first baseman blasted a changeup over the right field fence for a two-run homer.
Ryan Goins grounded out to end the inning, but the Red Sox’s slumbering offense now has some serious work to do.
Mid 3rd, Blue Jays 3-0: Marcus Stroman’s command seems to be slipping a bit, but he still has yet to allow a hit.
Xander Bogaerts popped out to shortstop to lead off the inning.
Jackie Bradley Jr. worked a walk, Stroman’s second of the afternoon, and his quick feet prevented the Blue Jays from turning two when Christian Vazquez grounded to shortstop after a lengthy at-bat.
That proved inconsequential, though, as Stroman went on to strike out Brock Holt for the second time today to retire the side.
End 2nd, Blue Jays 3-0: A play here in the second showed just how accustomed we’ve become to Jackie Bradley Jr.’s outstanding defense.
Juan Francisco lifted a fly ball deep into right-center field to lead off the inning. Bradley did a great job of chasing the ball down at the warning track, but it bounced off his outstretched glove, allowing the big first baseman to chug into third with a triple. It was a tough play, but one we’ve seen Bradley make on multiple occasions this season.
Francisco wasn’t on third base for long, as Ryan Goins blooped a ground-rule double just inside the left field line to score him from third with Toronto’s second run.
No. 9 hitter Anthony Gose pushed Goins to third with a sacrifice bunt. Jose Reyes grounded straight back to Rubby De La Rosa for the second out, holding Goins, and De La Rosa got out ahead of Melky Cabrera 0-2. Three balls followed to run the count full, though, and Cabrera roped an RBI double into right-center.
Jose Bautista grounded to Xander Bogaerts to end the inning, with Bogaerts tagging Cabrera at third for the final out.
Mid 2nd, Blue Jays 1-0: Marcus Stroman retires the side in order without allowing a ball to leave the infield.
Second baseman Ryan Goins, who recently was recalled from Triple-A, made a nice sliding play on a Mike Napoli grounder to pick up the first out of the inning. The second two were more routine, as Daniel Nava grounded to first and Stephen Drew grounded back to Stroman at the mound.
End 1st, Blue Jays 1-0: Rubby De La Rosa displays some questionable control in the first, and the Blue Jays take advantage to grab the game’s first run.
Jose Reyes grounded out to Stephen Drew at short to lead off the inning, but De La Rosa allowed the next three batters to reach. Jose Bautista sandwiched a base hit between walks by Melky Cabrera and Dioner Navarro.
De La Rosa picked up a big second out when Dan Johnson popped out to Xander Bogaerts in Rogers Centre’s generous foul territory.
The next batter, Munenori Kawasaki, struck out swinging to end the inning, but a full-count fastball got past catcher Christian Vazquez, scoring Cabrera to give the Jays a 1-0 lead. It was ruled a passed ball.
Mid 1st, 0-0: The Red Sox draw a walk in the first but send just three batters to the plate against Marcus Stroman.
The rookie right-hander struck out Brock Holt to open the game before issuing a free pass to Shane Victorino. Victorino was wiped off the basepaths by a double play, though, as David Ortiz lined out to first baseman Juan Francisco, who tagged the bag to end the inning.
The vast majority of the batters in the lineup for both teams today have never faced their respective opposing pitcher. No member of the Red Sox has ever stepped into the box against Stroman, and Jose Bautista is the only Blue Jays starter who has done so against Boston starter Rubby De La Rosa.
Jose Reyes, Melky Cabrera and Bautista are due up first against De La Rosa.
12:37 p.m. ET: Brock Holt takes strike one from Marcus Stroman, and we are underway at the venue formerly known as the SkyDome.
Holt, Shane Victorino and David Ortiz are due up first for the Red Sox.
12:20 p.m. ET: The Boston Red Sox will look to get back to their winning ways Thursday afternoon as they wrap up their four-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.
Rubby De La Rosa will take the mound for Boston, who has dropped its last two games after winning the series opener. De La Rosa has been tough at Fenway Park this season, going 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA in four starts at home, but that success hasn’t translated on the road.
De La Rosa is searching for his first road win of the season, as he is o-2 with a 4.42 ERA in his three starts away from Fenway.
He’ll take the hill for his first start against the Blue Jays against rookie Marcus Stroman (5-2, 3.58 ERA), who has found newfound success as a starter after starting his career in the bullpen.
Check out both teams’ full lineups here.
