BOSTON — Forget rock bottom. The Red Sox are discovering new depths.
Eduardo Rodriguez and the Red Sox suffered a 13-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday at Fenway Park. The defeat was Rodriguez’s first as a major leaguer, though Boston’s defense, which was awful, deserves much of the blame. It was an ugly effort all-around.
The Red Sox have lost six straight since overcoming a four-run deficit in the eighth inning last Sunday against the Oakland Athletics. They’ve been swept by the Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles since sweeping the A’s, placing them exactly 10 games under .500 at 27-37.
GAME IN A WORD
Circus.
That’s exactly what the fourth and fifth innings were for the Red Sox. The Blue Jays scored 10 runs on nine hits and two walks in the two innings. Boston aided the effort with several defensive miscues, which were mostly a product of the bright sun at Fenway. The Sox weren’t charged with any errors in that span.
The Red Sox have played some sloppy games this season. Sunday’s loss was right near the top — or bottom, depending on how you want to look at it — of the list.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
The Blue Jays took a 10-0 lead.
The fourth inning was an unpleasant sight for the Fenway Faithful, who justifiably moaned, groaned and booed their way through a six-run outburst by the Jays. The Red Sox’s spotty defense — several softly hit balls dropped Sunday — was highlighted by Dustin Pedroia losing a ball in the sun in shallow right field. Ryan Goins broke open the game with a three-run homer.
The fifth inning wasn’t all that better for Boston. Rodriguez recorded two quick outs before things came apart at the seams. Rodriguez issued a walk to Edwin Encarnacion, who scored when another popup into right field dropped between four fielders. Russell Martin added an RBI double and Danny Valencia greeted Steven Wright with a first-pitch, two-run homer over everything in left field.
ON THE BUMP
— Rodriguez deserved better. The rookie obviously wasn’t his best, but nine earned runs over 4 2/3 innings is not indicative of his performance. Steady defense — or some semblance of it — would have helped.
Rodriguez’s ERA jumped from 0.44 to 3.55 with the effort. He surrendered eight hits, walked three and struck out one while throwing 88 pitches (45 strikes)
— Wright, as mentioned, was greeted by a two-run homer. He was charged with three earned runs on four hits over two innings of work.
— Tommy Layne replaced Wright in the seventh inning with two outs and two runners in scoring position. Goins welcomed the left-hander with a line drive into the left-center field gap.
Jose Reyes followed with a double against Layne to make it 13-5.
— Heath Hembree tossed two scoreless innings in mop-up duty.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— David Ortiz launched a three-run homer in the fifth inning. He has three homers over his last four games.
Ortiz’s blast — his ninth of the season — came after a pair of RBI singles and cut Toronto’s lead to 10-5.
— Pedroia had two hits atop the order. His average is up to .309.
One of Pedroia’s hits was a gift. He hit a popup into right field in the fifth inning that dropped after Jose Bautista lost the ball in the sun. The sun giveth and the sun taketh.
— Hanley Ramirez, who reached base twice, plated Blake Swihart with an RBI single in the fifth. Swihart showed good speed while motoring around from second base.
— Pablo Sandoval, who left Saturday’s game with right quad tightness, continues to swing the bat well since his two-day break last weekend. He collected two hits, including a triple.
Sandoval’s triple banged off the Green Monster after neither Kevin Pillar nor Valenica could make the catch. It was a circus-like defensive effort, though the Red Sox outnumbered the Blue Jays in that area.
TWEET OF THE GAME
An insult to performance artists everywhere.
[tweet https://twitter.com/BenCarsley/status/610161413437399040 align=’center’]
UP NEXT
The Red Sox again will try to stop the bleeding Monday at Fenway Park. They’ll welcome in the Braves for two games at home before traveling to Atlanta for two more contests.
Rick Porcello is scheduled to face Williams Perez in Monday’s series opener.
Thumbnail photo via Gregory Fisher/USA TODAY Sports Images
