BLUE JAYS BUNT FOR ANSWERS
Blowout loss caps sweep by Red Sox
Ezequiel Carrera, batting leadoff, fails to get a bunt down in the Blue Jays’ 7-1 loss to AL East-leading Boston at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday night. Carrera finished 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. The Jays, now a season-low 11 games below .500, open a four-game set against the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Camden Yards.
The Blue Jays’ chances of earning a wild-card berth were dead in the water long ago, even though mathematics still convinced some loyal fans that the club was still in the race. But following the 7-1 loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday night at the Rogers Centre, completing a sweep that dropped them11games under .500 to match their season low, the goal for the organization should now be simply to show pride and battle the legitimate contenders hard over the final 29 games of the schedule.
With manager John Gibbons calling on his bullpen to pitch in a tie game in the seventh, right-hander Tom Koehler allowed a leadoff double to Hanley Ramirez, just inside the third-base line. That was followed by a no-doubt two-run homer to right field by pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland, the seventh of his career at the Rogers Centre.
“They’ve got a good team over there,” said Gibbons.
And when it came time to support the bullpen, the defensive execution was abysmal. In the Sox’s four-run eighth, with runners on first and second, Boston botched a double steal with Rafael Devers taking off for second and Xander Bogaerts not heading for third. With two men basically on the same base and one of them going to be out, catcher Raffy Lopez fired down to second and Bogaerts cruised into third for a double steal, giving Jays opponents 100 for the year. The Sox stole 11 bases without being caught in the series. It’s the first time that’s ever happened to the Jays. For the year, they have retired 18 per cent of base stealers.
The Jays featured one of their least fearsome lineups of the season. Gibbons had already told Josh Donaldson he was going to have a night off, then Justin Smoak showed up and complained of tightness in his calf. They boasted an infield of Steve Pearce at first base, Rob Refsnyder at second, Darwin Barney at third and Ryan Goins at short.
For those thinking that maybe infield help will be on the way when the rosters expand on Sept.1, it should be noted that earlier this week second baseman Devon Travis was backed off his rehab due to lingering knee soreness and that 24-year-old Cuban shortstop Lourdes Gurriel will report to the Arizona Instructional League in the final month.
Nevertheless, on Wednesday the Jays scored first against AL Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, with the light-hitting Lopez scraping the top of the right-field fence for a solo homer leading off the third. It was the 29-year-old’s second homer of the season and his career.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Jays had consecutive singles from Kendrys Morales, Kevin Pillar and Goins to load the bases with one out. But Barney lined a screamer stabbed by Porcello and Lopez struck out.
“Stuff like that definitely changes things when you catch breaks,” Barney said. “When you flush a ball like that, you’re hoping for results.”
The obvious conclusion after the Jays’ failure to add-on in the fourth was that the Red Sox would tie it up. Sure enough, leading off the fifth, Ramirez crushed a full-count fastball from J.A. Happ into the second deck in left to tie the game.
Happ’s season reflects the team: a little injured, a little unlucky, a little underachieving. Happ and Porcello were the two AL 20-game winners a year ago. Happ allowed just the one run in his six innings, four hits and four walks with two strikeouts.
The 34-year-old lefty has a year left on his Jays contract. Earlier, Sportsnet reported he was claimed on waivers by an unknown club with the Jays pulling him back. The lefty’s record remained at 6-8, but he lowered his ERA to 3.96.