Blue Jays use every pitcher in laborious loss to Red Sox

The Toronto Blue Jays dropped their series to the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, losing a 12-6 game that seemed to make time stand still. Rookie pitcher Matt Boyd experienced one of the toughest outings in Blue Jays history, allowing seven earned runs without recording a single out.

Boyd’s outing caused the Blue Jays to burn through every single arm in their bullpen, meaning that Alex Anthopoulos is likely to make some roster moves prior to their game in Detroit on Friday. The ‘pen was fairly impressive given the task they were presented with, but Boston managed a whopping 19 hits.

On offense, it was a story of missed opportunities through the middle innings as the Jays produced 14 hits of their own and enjoyed a steady stream of base runners. Thankfully for Toronto, the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays both lost, limiting the damage in the AL East.

Game notes:

was left out of the starting line-up despite two home runs on Canada Day.

loves the hot hand as much as anyone, but with

at first and

at DH, it was a numbers game. Expect to see him get an extended look soon, he’s earned it.

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• Boston re-discovered the scoreboard in the seventh inning. After two wild pitches advanced the runner to third, Chris Colabello whiffed on a ground ball to first, allowing Pablo Sandoval to score. It wasn’t Colabello’s finest night.
• Of Toronto’s many downfalls, the inability to stack hits may have been the most frustrating. The Blue Jays reached base in nearly every inning, and this felt like a game where they cold have crossed home plate twice as often as they did.
• Russell Martin and Danny Valencia gave the fans something to celebrate in the ninth, at least, providing back-to-back home runs for the courageous few who chose not to beat the traffic.

Thursday’s start went as poorly as possible, and I regret that this isn’t an overstatement. Boyd found bats in abundance, allowing seven earned runs on six hits and a walk. He did not record an out.

Before we pile on Boyd, let’s all take a deep breath and realize that this doesn’t properly represent an encouraging young arm that has great value to the Blue Jays system. Unfortunately, this likely spells his demotion for the time being. Alex Anthopoulos travelled to see Daniel Norris pitch in person on Wednesday, making him a leading candidate to make the next start in this slot. Felix Doubront wouldn’t be a surprise, though.

stepped in admirably to calm the waters with none out in the top of the first. Hendriks allowed one earned run on three hits over 3.0 innings, moving his ERA to 2.58 on the season.

entered in the fourth, loading the bases with a little help from a defensive blunder but ultimately striking out the side to hold the deficit to four. He would strike out four over two scoreless.

Aaron Loup came out of the bullpen to kick off the sixth inning with the score still at 8-4 and got through one scoreless frame with two Ks. Delabar would then allow three runs (one earned) over 0.2 shaky innings before handing off to Cecil.

Roberto Osuna entering in the eighth inning made very little sense with Redmond still in the bullpen, given his potential value tomorrow. His young arm may have a limit this year, so was this really the best use of his innings? Redmond followed Osuna for the ninth, so why couldn’t he have handles both innings?

Overall, while there were bumps in the road, it’s incredibly rare for a bullpen to record every out in the ball game. They stretched thin and did all they could.

Travis continues to get it done since returning from the DL, going 3-for-5 with an RBI on the night. Toronto repeatedly failed to cash in with runners on base which nullified any potential momentum. In a game where the Blue Jays also took eight walks, it should have reflected much stronger in the runs category. Honorary mention goes to Kevi Pillar, who has brought his June bat into July.

Next: Blue Jays make international splash with Vlad Guerrero Jr.

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