TORONTO --- The Red Sox find themselves mired in the first official losing streak of Alex Cora’s fledgling managerial tenure.


Curtis Granderson’s towering solo home run to right field in the bottom of the 10th inning doomed Boston to a third straight defeat, one the Red Sox fought desperately to avoid.


Granderson’s blast off Craig Kimbrel handed Boston a 4-3 setback, with the Blue Jays piling on the misery after the Red Sox dropped the final two games of [...]

Bill Koch

TORONTO --- The Red Sox find themselves mired in the first official losing streak of Alex Cora’s fledgling managerial tenure.

Curtis Granderson’s towering solo home run to right field in the bottom of the 10th inning doomed Boston to a third straight defeat, one the Red Sox fought desperately to avoid.

Granderson’s blast off Craig Kimbrel handed Boston a 4-3 setback, with the Blue Jays piling on the misery after the Red Sox dropped the final two games of their series at Oakland over the weekend.

Granderson got all of a 97 mph fastball from Kimbrel, sitting dead red on a 2-0 count and hitting the facing of the third deck with a majestic shot. Rick Porcello’s recovery after a shaky second inning and Joe Kelly’s two solid innings of relief went for naught, as Boston’s closer could only record one out after being summoned to hold the line in a 3-3 game.

“You fall behind anybody, it’s no good,” Kimbrel said. “You throw a ball in there to get back in the count and it’s game over.”

The Red Sox didn’t surrender without a fight, roughing up Toronto closer Roberto Osuna in the ninth. Boston nearly doubled its hit total to that point in a two-run rally, as Eduardo Nuņez and Brock Holt each lined RBI singles to erase a 3-1 deficit. Holt’s bullet to left plated Rafael Devers with the tying run, but Nuņez was out by a mile at the plate after being waved around from second by third base coach Carlos Febles.

“A lot of good at-bats that inning,” Holt said. “We finally got some guys on base, put together some good team at-bats and were able to get two runs in there and tie the game.”

Osuna’s blown save squandered a dominant outing by Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ, who struck out a season-high 10 against no walks over seven strong innings. Boston’s starting nine went just 4-for-25 against Happ, lowering its collective average against the Blue Jays’ ace to a paltry .189 over 159 career at-bats. Happ remained particularly effective against the top of the Red Sox order, as Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi went a combined 0-for-6 against him and slid to 5-for-42 career.

Boston’s lone breakthrough against Happ came in the sixth, bringing an end to a 26-inning span where the Red Sox accounted for just one run. Sean Manaea’s no-hitter in Oakland on Saturday and a 4-1 loss to the Athletics on Sunday extended Boston’s misery until Hanley Ramirez dunked an RBI single into center.

The Blue Jays did most of their scoring in the bottom of the second, putting five balls in play that might have covered a combined 90 feet of the green outfield turf. Granderson’s two-run single to third base was the finishing blow, the last nick in a series of shaving cuts against Porcello.

Steve Pearce drew a leadoff walk from Porcello to start the trouble, one of a season-high three issued by the right-hander after a lone free pass in his first 25 2/3 innings in 2018. Russell Martin dribbled a single through the right side to put runners at the corners and Devers threw wide of home on a Kevin Pillar chopper, allowing Pearce to slide in to make it 1-0.

Two more bouncers along the infield and a wild pitch put a pair in scoring position for Granderson, a left-handed hitter who the Red Sox played to pull. The veteran outfielder’s sharp two-hopper ate up Devers on the nearly vacant left side, opening the gap.

“Putting a runner on without making them earn it,” Porcello said, pointing to the walk that opened the door. “Could have been better there for sure.”

 

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25