BOSTON --- The Red Sox ultimately avoided trouble when they allowed the leadoff man to reach in the top of the sixth inning Saturday night.
Boston wasn’t so lucky in each of the next two frames, and a club with a suddenly frigid offense wasn’t able to overcome a pair of measly runs plated by the visiting Blue Jays.
The Red Sox suffered a drab 2-1 setback at Fenway Park, one marked by struggles at the plate and a bullpen forced to walk the tightrope yet again. [...]
BOSTON --- The Red Sox ultimately avoided trouble when they allowed the leadoff man to reach in the top of the sixth inning Saturday night.
Boston wasn’t so lucky in each of the next two frames, and a club with a suddenly frigid offense wasn’t able to overcome a pair of measly runs plated by the visiting Blue Jays.
The Red Sox suffered a drab 2-1 setback at Fenway Park, one marked by struggles at the plate and a bullpen forced to walk the tightrope yet again.
Heath Hembree and Marcus Walden ultimately buckled in the late stages, and there was no safety net provided by their teammates. Bo Bichette’s RBI double in the seventh and Rowdy Tellez’s soft groundout in the eighth were enough for Toronto to overcome its one-run deficit.
Stellar defense behind Hembree near preserved Boston’s lead for three more outs. Kevin Pillar crashed into the wall in deep right while making a running catch to rob Tellez and Jackie Bradley Jr. eased back to take extra bases from Cavan Biggio in the triangle. Bichette was sure to hit one out of reach with two outs, a rocket off the garage door in deep center.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drew a leadoff walk in the eighth, which tends to be a harbinger of bad things to come for the issuer. That happened to be Walden, who allowed a one-out single down the line in right to Randal Grichuk that put men at the corners. Boston’s infield was at double-play depth with one out and Tellez’s soft bouncer to the right side left Jose Peraza with just a play at first.
The Red Sox managed just four hits, left seven on base and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Andrew Benintendi fell to 2-for-34 on the season before Pillar pinch hit for him in the fourth. Bradley closed 0-for-4 and extended his slide to 1-for-28.
Boston scratched its lone run against Toronto starter Chase Anderson in the second. Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland drew back-to-back walks ahead of an RBI single up the middle by Christian Vazquez. Benintendi’s 4-6-3 double play and a soft fly to left by Bradley snuffed out the rally.
The next Red Sox threat came two innings later. J.D. Martinez walked and Bogaerts ripped a liner through Travis Shaw at third base for a single. Runners remained at first and second two outs later when Wilmer Font was lifted in favor of left-hander Anthony Kay. Boston manager Ron Roenicke avoided the left-left matchup by sending up Pillar instead of Benintendi, but a soft tapper back to Kay was all the bold move produced.
Zack Godley turned in four scoreless frames while making his second Red Sox start. The right-hander worked around a pair of walks in the third and two singles in the fourth to keep the Blue Jays off the board. Grichuk’s pop behind first stranded a pair and came on Godley’s final pitch of the night.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
(401) 277-7054
On Twitter: @BillKoch25