BOSTON --- Losing teams are classified as such because they consistently find ways to lose games.
It’s not exactly breaking news, but to see it play out night after night is oddly fascinating. The Red Sox have found new and creative manners in which to fall throughout this 2020 season, and Friday’s opening game of a doubleheader with the Blue Jays featured another.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was trying to give Boston an out in the top of the sixth. He squared around [...]
BOSTON --- Losing teams are classified as such because they consistently find ways to lose games.
It’s not exactly breaking news, but to see it play out night after night is oddly fascinating. The Red Sox have found new and creative manners in which to fall throughout this 2020 season, and Friday’s opening game of a doubleheader with the Blue Jays featured another.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was trying to give Boston an out in the top of the sixth. He squared around to sacrifice and was eventually walked by Marcus Walden in a one-run game. That helped set the stage for one final rally as Toronto slipped to an 8-7 victory.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached on an error in a 5-4 game and the Blue Jays looked for a relatively risk-free way to add on. Gurriel showed bunt and couldn’t find a strike to put in play, eventually strolling to first. Following singles by Travis Shaw, Joe Panik and Randal Grichuk fueled a three-run inning as Toronto did just enough to put the Red Sox away.
Boston answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to again draw within one, but two of its most productive hitters failed to come through in a key spot. Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts both popped up along the infield against AJ Cole, stranding men at second and third. Devers slammed the head of his bat to the infield dirt and Bogaerts looked poised to whip his toward the home dugout.
The Red Sox trailed throughout this one, as Zack Godley retired five of the first six men he faced before running into trouble with two outs in the second. Shaw sent a deep drive toward the triangle that cleared the Boston bullpen for a solo homer. Panik drew a walk and Danny Jansen – hitting just .147 on the year – cracked an 0-and-2 curveball to the Monster Seats to make it 3-0.
Grichuk doubled leading off the third and eventually scored from third on a double play, closing the book on Godley. He left after three innings and 51 pitches on the hook in a 4-2 game. Rowdy Tellez flipped a sacrifice fly to left against Jeffrey Springs in the fifth before Toronto added the eventual deciding runs in the sixth.
Yairo Munoz was at the center of all three productive innings for the Red Sox. He dropped a two-run homer just over the Green Monster in the second and scored after a leadoff single in the fifth. Munoz grounded an RBI double inside the third-base bag in the sixth, finishing a 3-for-3 effort.
Jose Peraza’s double to deep center plated Munoz in the fourth, and he eventually scored on a wild pitch. Michael Chavis knocked an RBI single to center in the sixth and Peraza’s fielder’s choice drew Boston back within striking distance. Alex Verdugo drew a four-pitch walk against Cole before Devers and Bogaerts came up empty.
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