Sox victory in mist
Offense handles Toronto
This is more like it. This is what the Red Sox are supposed to be doing to the lowly Toronto Blue Jays.
Playing through drizzle for most of the game, the Red Sox slapped around Jays starter Joe Biagini and once again hopped on the back of Doug Fister on their way to a 6-1 win last night.
The game started on time, despite heavy rain in the forecast all night, and it wasn’t until the fifth inning that it started to come down consistently. The grounds crew had to tend to the pitcher’s mound several times.
But no matter who the Blue Jays put out there, the Red Sox had no problem hitting the ball as they won the series finale and took two of three from the lastplace Jays.
“It was special, that’s for sure,” said Jackie Bradley Jr., who had three RBI. “Being able to mentally tough out that long (19-inning) game (Tuesday) night and to come back, I feel like we had some momentum coming into today. Just try not to think about the weather and just go out and compete and perform your best.”
Fister put the Red Sox in a 1-0 hole in the first inning — something he’s done several times, though it hasn’t stopped him from throwing four straight gems — and a Red Sox team that needed 19 innings to score three runs one night earlier had five runs by the time the fourth inning ended.
The Sox put 16 guys on base on Tuesday but scored just three times. What did the offense do differently in this one?
Luck, maybe, and some well-placed fly balls.
“I think we came out with good energy,” manager John Farrell said. “When we run the bases and have success like that, I think there’s an energy that we draw from that. And I think at the same time it gives that guy on the mound, the opposition, a lot more to contend with. So there might have been some deeper counts, some walks that were mixed into that and an occasional base hit.”
After Mitch Moreland drew a walk to start the fourth, Xander Bogaerts stuck his bat out just far enough to slice an outside fastball down the rightfield line for an RBI triple. Rafael Devers then blooped a shallow fly to left for another RBI.
Bradley might have taken the prettiest swing of the series later in the inning, connecting on a high-andoutside fastball and pulling it over the right-field bullpen for a two-run homer. It was his first extra-base hit since returning from the disabled list.
“I just think it was a changeup, maybe caught it out front a little bit,” Bradley said of his 15th homer of the year. “A fastball maybe I’d hit it to center or left. It was away, but maybe the elevated changeup, the speed of the ball dictated me catching out front. I usually take those to left.”
Credit Eduardo Nunez for manufacturing a run in the first inning. He singled and stole second, tagged up on a shallow fly ball to right field and then scored on a groundout.
That’s what the Red Sox had been doing against these Jays, a group that has looked disinterested in playing defense for the greater part of a month and continues to give up 90-feet freebies.
The Sox entered the series with 24 stolen bases against the Jays, the most of any team against a single opponent this year. They stole once on Tuesday, then four more last night.
“It’s a vital part of our game for sure,” said Bradley, who stole his eighth of the season. “That’s going to help us manufacture runs in close games, late games, put pressure on defenses and hopefully continue to move people over.”
The return of the offense was a happy sight for the Fenway crowd, but the fans seemed much more interested in cheering on Fister as he threw another beauty. This time he went seven innings and allowing just four hits.
Looking masterful with a sharp sinker, Fister fired his fourth straight start of at least seven innings while allowing five hits or less in each of them. In seven starts since rejoining the rotation in place of David Price, Fister has a 2.79 ERA.
“He’s pitching really special,” Bradley said. “It’s been fun to play behind him.”
The Yankees were rained out yesterday, so the Sox pushed their lead to four games in the AL East with 22 left to play.