The Boston Red Sox were on a roll going into Wednesday afternoon’s Canada Day matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays. It didn’t take long for that momentum to come to a crashing halt.
Maybe it was some sort of Canadian magic, but the potent Blue Jays lineup was back after failing to get much done in the first two games of the series. The Jays came out swinging early and tagged a struggling Rick Porcello for five runs in the first inning.
Luckily for Porcello, a bad loss still counts as only one loss, but it could mean repercussions for the Red Sox’s four-year, $82.5 million man.
GAME IN A WORD
Disaster.
There’s no way around it. The Red Sox gave up five home runs to the Blue Jays while barely mustering up any offense of their own. This certainly was a game to never look back on.
IT WAS OVER WHEN …
Porcello gave up a two-run home run to Jose Bautista in the second inning.
While you can’t usually call a game that early, Porcello’s third home run caused the Red Sox to dip into their bullpen in the third inning down 7-0, which is never an ideal situation (to state the obvious). And when things didn’t progress from there, it was safe to say Porcello had done Boston in.
ON THE BUMP
— Porcello’s final stat line yielded seven hits, seven earned runs, three strikeouts, zero walks and three home runs in just two innings of work. The right-hander hasn’t won a start since May 16.
— Reliever Robbie Ross Jr. didn’t make things much better when Justin Smoak absolutely crushed a home run off him — the first baseman’s second of the game — in the third inning, but the damage already was done by Porcello.
Ross got the job done after his misstep, allowing just two other hits with one strikeout and one walk in three innings of relief.
— Jonathan Aro started his outing in the sixth inning by striking out Ryan Goins, but he followed with a single for Jose Reyes, a double for Josh Donaldson and a sacrifice fly for Bautista that scored Reyes. He got through the seventh, but allowed the fifth Blue Jays home run of the game, a two-run shot by Donaldson, with just one out in the eighth.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Mark Buehrle was dealing, and the Red Sox managed just four hits off the left-hander and six total. Mike Napoli, Deven Marrero and Sandy Leon all went hitless, while no one else in the order managed more than one hit.
—Â Pablo Sandoval helped the Red Sox avoid the shutout with a groundout in the seventh that scored Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez, to his credit, legged out a triple to get in scoring position.
— Mookie Betts provided a small bright spot in the day with a solo shot in the eighth inning for Boston’s second run.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Red Sox fans could use some cheering up, so here’s Don Cherry in a special Canada Day suit.
[tweet https://twitter.com/Sean_McAdam/status/616274094552551425 align=’center’]
UP NEXT
Did we mention this still counts as only one loss? The Red Sox have one game left in their series with the Blue Jays, and they have a chance to win it after taking the first two games. Thursday night’s contest will be a battle of the southpaws, as Wade Miley will be on the mound for Boston against Matt Boyd at 7:07 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports Images
