BOSTON — The Red Sox endured a bit of a role reversal Friday night, and the results were less than ideal.
The Red Sox got a solid outing from starter David Price, but their normally-potent bats couldn’t pick up the left-handed ace, as Boston mustered just five hits in a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and a pair of two-run homers by Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion and Devon Travis were enough to send the Sox to their third consecutive loss.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Flummoxed.
Such describes the state of the Red Sox’s offense, which was kept off-balance all night by Dickey’s dancing knuckleball. After scoring 22 runs in their last three games, the Sox didn’t record a single hit with runners in scoring position (0-for-12) and left 10 men on base.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Travis launched a two-run home run over the Green Monster in the eighth inning.
Travis’ first homer of the season gave Toronto a comfortable 5-1 lead, which was enough cushion against an unusually quiet Boston offense.
ON THE BUMP
— Price settled down after a shaky first inning to deliver another quality start. He struggled with control out of the gate and surrendered a mammoth homer to Encarnacion on a 2-0 fastball, but managed to buckle down and make it to the seventh inning for the fifth consecutive outing.
Price allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits in seven innings of work, walking a season-high four batters and striking out four. His 114 pitches tied a season high.
— Koji Uehara came on in the eighth and allowed a two-run homer to Travis that proved to be the dagger. Uehara recorded both of his outs via strikeout and was replaced by Noe Ramirez with two outs in the inning.
— Ramirez recorded the final out of the eighth and worked a 1-2-3 ninth.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Mookie Betts scampered home from third base on a passed ball in the first inning to get the Red Sox on the board early. Betts went 1-for-4 with a seventh-inning double.
— David Ortiz broke up Dickey’s no-hit bid in the sixth inning with a leadoff double, his 500th in a Red Sox uniform. But Boston couldn’t bring Big Papi home, stranding him at third when a Jackie Bradley Jr. strikeout ended the inning.
— Ortiz hit another double in the eighth and reached in all four of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch. He owns an 11-game hitting streak.
— Hanley Ramirez plated Boston’s second run with an RBI groundout in the eighth that scored Xander Bogaerts.
— Bogaerts went 0-for-3 with two walks and one run scored, finally snapping his 26-game hitting streak that began May 6. He represented the tying run in the ninth with runners on first and third, but struck out to end the game.
— Dustin Pedroia went 0-for-4 to end his own 10-game hitting streak.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Big Papi still is doing Big Papi things.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox will send their own knuckleballer to the mound Saturday in right-hander Steven Wright. The Blue Jays will counter with righty Marcus Stroman in the second game of the teams’ three-game series. First pitch at Fenway is set for 4:05 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
