Jays’ leaky defence proves costly in loss to Boston

Over and over, we’ve been told that the Toronto Blue Jays’ improved defence was the final piece in their pennant puzzle. And for the past seven weeks, evidence to that effect emerged almost daily. Great plays became the norm. The Jays no longer threw away wins.

So yes, Sunday’s untidy 4-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox could be described as an aberration. But for the Jays, it was a bad time for such a flagrant glitch, especially because it followed another unusual collapse, that by the bullpen in Saturday’s 7-6 loss.

With those two losses to the rejuvenated Red Sox, the Jays’ lead over the second-place Yankees is now 2 1/2 games, following the Yankees’ 11-2 win over the Mets later Sunday.

Next up: three games against the Yankees at the Rogers Centre. The Jays have 13 games left in the regular season.

The record will show they committed three errors Sunday against the Red Sox, two of which led to runs, including the winner. Just as damaging: second baseman Cliff Pennington’s bad throw, which aborted a potential double-play and set up a two-run Boston rally in the fifth.

All of which represents a simple anomaly, said Jays manager John Gibbons.

“Our defence has been great lately,” he said. “Today it was costly. We didn’t turn that double-play. That led to a run. But shoot, it’s tough to complain about the defence the last couple months. It goes back to, when we don’t score a lot, we have trouble winning. That got us again today.”

The Jays have been infinitely fortunate as well as very good since the all-star break. On Sunday, their ragged defence seemed also to spawn bad luck, especially in the eighth, when the Sox snapped a 3-3 tie.

Leading off, Pablo Sandoval topped a dribbler between the mound and first-base line. Reliever Brett Cecil reached down to glove it and fanned, allowing Sandoval to reach first.

With one out and Sandoval on third, Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a fly ball to centre field. Kevin Pillar’s throw hit the edge of the turf where it meets the dirt cut-out around the plate and took a wicked hop off catcher Dioner Navarro’s shin guard. Sandoval scored; with a true bounce, he might have been out.

Earlier, Jays starter Mark Buehrle made two gaffes in the same inning. He threw wildly to third after a shift on David Ortiz allowed Xander Bogaerts to take two bases on a ground ball to first. After Bogaerts scored on that play, Buehrle failed to cover the bag on time on Travis Shaw’s broken-bat grounder to first.

That play didn’t lead to a run, just an extra batter for Buehrle to face. He said the broken bat confused him, delaying his sprint to first base.

Buehrle is a four-time Gold Glove winner. His late rush to first base was another aberration on a day rife with them.

Down 3-1, Boston tied it in the fifth, thanks in part to Pennington’s wide throw. Had he converted the double-play, Buehrle would have enjoyed a bases-empty, two-out situation. He retired the next batter, but a walk and Shaw’s two-run single tied the score.

The Jays dropped two of three in Boston last week and again on the weekend.