Sanchez ‘back to square one’ as blister returns
BOSTON— Aaron Sanchez’s third outing since returning from blister struggles was supposed to be the night he could finally put the nagging issue behind him.
That’s what Blue Jays manager John Gibbons had hoped for, anyway. The third time out had been the charm for lefty J.A. Happ, who struggled out of the gate after coming back from an elbow injury but has since returned to his usual form.
Sanchez showed signs of a promising turn of fate in his most recent outing last week, pitching six innings in his first win of the year. There was hope within the club that his twoyear long battle with the niggling injury was behind him.
But Sanchez was pulled after just four innings with a small blister in the same spot on his right middle finger. He had allowed five runs by then, setting the Boston Red Sox up for a 5-1win that gives the home team a 2-1 series lead heading into Thursday afternoon’s finale.
“It just started forming midway through the game and I kept going and it got worse,” Sanchez said. “The right thing to do is to kind of catch it before things (get) worse.
“It’s definitely frustrating . . . you take a step forward and you think you’re past it and then you’re right back to square one.”
After two days of defying how this series looks on paper — the worst in the AL East taking on the best — reality hit hard for the Blue Jays.
Toronto beat expectations on Monday and stayed competitive in a 15inning marathon a day later. But the troubles that have become all too familiar to this team again reared their ugly head in the third game.
On top of Sanchez’s limited start, the Jays’ offence stalled, managing just five hits and stranding the four runners that got as far as scoring position. An error from Josh Donaldson and a routine ground ball bobbled by Troy Tulowitzki proved costly, further signs of Toronto’s lagging defence.
By the time the Jays’ bullpen got to work, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia had already doubled his RBI total in the series, driving in Deven Marrero and Mookie Betts in the second and Betts again in the fourth with a pair of singles.
Jose Bautista gave Toronto its lone run, scoring Miguel Montero with a sacrifice fly in the fifth frame
The silver lining for the Blue Jays on the night was another strong performance from a call-up. Cesar Valdez delivered four clean innings, striking out five, to save Toronto from overusing its bullpen.
But being impressed by Valdez didn’t mitigate Gibbons’ frustration with Sanchez’s blister issues.
“We’re almost to August, he’s working hard and it’s just one of those things that you can’t control. He’s got to get over it.”