It wasn’t Andrew Cashner’s or Boston’s night.
Cashner’s debut certainly didn’t go as planned, as the right-hander lasted five-plus innings and gave up five earned runs (two home runs) on eight hits with two strikeouts in the Red Sox’s 10-4 loss to Toronto on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
The Blue Jays took a two-run lead in the sixth that Boston just couldn’t overcome, despite having opportunities to tie or score the go-ahead run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
Mookie Betts had himself a night, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while Xander Bogaerts continued his recent offensive tear, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs on the night. But it wasn’t enough as Boston dropped the second of a four-game set.
With the loss, the Red Sox slipped to 51-44, while the Blue Jays climbed to 36-60.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Frustrating.
The Red Sox had no shortage of opportunities to make a comeback, but the bats couldn’t dig out of the hole.
ON THE BUMP
— Cashner pitched a scoreless first inning, but ran into some trouble in the second.
After striking out Danny Jansen, Cashner issued a walk to Justin Smoak before surrendering a single to Freddy Galvis, bringing Teoscar Hernandez to the plate. And he responded by sending the ball into the Green Monster seats to give Toronto a 3-1 lead.
Cashner again got into a jam in the second by leading off the inning with a walk to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. followed that up with a single, and Randal Grichuk moved Guerrero to third by grounding into a double play. A walk to Jansen put runners on the corners before Smoak singled to put the Blue Jays up 4-1.
The Red Sox came back to tie at 4-4 in the fifth, but Toronto took back the lead in the sixth when Smoak homered to make it 5-4.
Cashner’s night was over when Galvis singled with nobody out.
— Josh Taylor relieved Cashner and got into hot water when he threw away a pickoff attempt at first base, allowing Hernandez to move to third. He later scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-4.
— Colten Brewer pitched a scoreless seventh.
— Darwinzon Hernandez, who was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier Tuesday, picked up two strikeouts in a scoreless eighth.
— Heath Hembree surrendered three consecutive hits and two runs and was pulled before recording an out in the ninth.
— Ryan Weber got one out before giving up an RBI-double to Grichuk as the Blue Jays extended their lead to 9-4.
Toronto plated its 10th run on the next batter when Jansen roped a single to deep-left field. Weber got out of the inning on a double play.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox wasted no time jumping out in front thanks to Bogaerts’ 21st home run of the season.
Jacob Waguespack served up a fastball over the heart of the plate and the shortstop drove it out of Fenway Park for a 1-0 lead.
— Boston made some noise in the fifth with two outs when Michael Chavis singled and moved to third on a Brock Holt double. Red-hot Betts hooked a single to left to make it a one-run game.
The damage continued with Bogaerts who, after a lengthy at-bat, smacked an RBI-single to make it 4-4.
— The Red Sox had a plethora of opportunities to tie the game or score the go-ahead run in the later innings, but their efforts proved futile.
Boston put runners on the corners in the sixth with two outs, but Chavis struck out to end the threat. An inning later, runners occupied first and second but were unable to score. Chavis drew a two-out walk in the eighth to bring the tying run to the plate in pinch-hitter Marco Hernandez, but he flied out.
— Betts had three hits, while Bogaerts had two. Andrew Benintendi, Chavis and Holt had one apiece.
— Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, Jackie Bradley Jr. went hitless. Sam Travis and Hernandez also did not amass a hit in their lone pinch-hit appearances.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Bogaerts continues to add to his impressive résumé this season.
UP NEXT
Boston continues its four-game set with Game 3 on Wednesday night. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.
