PITCHER PLAYS CATCHER AT FENWAY
Red Sox rack up eight for second straight day, Hernandez looks lost
The Blue Jays do not play good defence on too many nights, and when you send out a starting pitcher like Marco Estrada — frustrated and struggling to regain lost effectiveness — he needs as much help from teammates as possible.
Estrada did not receive that help on Tuesday night in the Jays’ second straight 8-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Estrada pitched just 32⁄ in3 nings, allowing four runs on seven hits with no walks and one strikeout. The Red Sox clubbed four doubles in the first two innings, scoring two runs in the first on two-base hits by Mitch Moreland and J.D. Martinez.
In the second inning, the season-long lack of defence came into play to cost an already struggling Estrada a run. With one out, Sandy Leon ripped a ball to deep right field. Teoscar Hernandez took a bad route to the ball, heading straight across to right-centre before adjusting and veering out toward the warning track. The ball sailed well over his glove for a double.
Estrada should have had two outs and nobody on, but instead a double by Andrew Benintendi cashed Leon. It’s not the first time Hernandez has struggled with his reads on line drives or fly balls. His reputation has never been great as an outfielder, despite a strong arm. But if Hernandez is not hitting, then that becomes a problem for a team that needs solid defence to win. Since April 30, Hernandez is 22-for-105 (.210) with three walks, 22 strikeouts and a .635 OPS.
In the fourth inning, Brock Holt singled to right with one out, then took off for second on a steal attempt. The throw by catcher Luke Maile easily beat Holt to the base, but took a short hop that might have been handled easily by shortstop Yangervis Solarte with time for the quick pick and the tag, but he failed to squeeze the throw and Holt was safe. The next batter, Jackie Bradley Jr., singled Holt home and that was it for Estrada, relieved by Aaron Loup. Solarte is playing out of position.
In the third inning, Blue Jay Justin Smoak homered into the home bullpen in right field. It was his eighth homer of the season and 29th RBI.
In the sixth, with Joe Biagini — perhaps the Jays’ least athletic pitcher — on the mound, defensive problems continued and led to another run before he managed to escape via a basesloaded double play. A ball was bounced over Biagini’s head that Solarte attempted to barehand, but came up empty. With runners on the corners and one out, Biagini lunged for a chopper to the left of the mound, but deflected it past second baseman Devon Travis onto the outfield grass for a cheap double.
The Jays made a bit of a game out of it by rallying for two runs against Rick Porcello in the seventh.
The Red Sox quickly responded with a monster solo home run by Xander Bogaerts against Biagini, then two more on a Leon homer in the eighth.
At one point in April the Jays were 13-6. Since then they have gone 12-24. They are 3-9 in the last 12 games, and 6-14 since closer Roberto Osuna was placed on administrative leave.