Blue Jays blow lead in 9th, lose 7-6 to the Red Sox

14. 6. 39. Final. 7

Saturday afternoon marked the 2nd game of a 3 game set. Toronto picked up the win on Friday night so today’s game could secure another series victory. Every series win versus AL East teams is increasingly more valuable as September continues to go slowly pass us. The Blue Jays sent out R.A. Dickey to the mound to try and pick up his 12th win. R.A. is trying to bounce back after he picked up his first loss in 12 starts dating all the way back to July 18th. The Red Sox sent out their veteran Wade Miley. Wade has not faired well against the Blue Jays this year with a 9.24 ERA in his 2 starts.

Ben Revere led off the 1st inning with a single to left center field. Jose Bautista drew a one out walk to put two runners on base. Edwin Encarnacion hit a deep fly ball to right field allowing Revere to advance to 3rd base. That set up 1st and 3rd with two outs. Chris Colabello hit a ground ball to short to end the threat in the 1st.

The Red Sox answered back in the top of the 2nd inning with a threat of their own. Rusney Castillo drew a one out walk. Brock Holt hit a fly ball to left field for the 2nd out. Blake Swihart hit a single to right field allowing Rusney to advance to 3rd base. With two outs and runners on 1st and 3rd but Jackie Bradley Jr ground out to end the inning.

Mookie Betts led off the bottom of the 3rd inning with a single left center field. Mookie quickly advanced to 2nd base on a pass ball by Russell Martin. The pass ball did not matter as R.A. Dickey was able to retire the next 3 batters he faced to escape the possible damage.

Once again the Red Sox had the lead off batter reach base in the 4th inning. Travis Shaw dropped a single to left field. Much like the previous innings R.A. pitched his way out of the inning without giving up any runs.

The Blue Jays started to threaten again in the bottom of the 4th inning. With one out Edwin Encarnacion and Chris Colabello drew back to back walks. The inning was quickly ended as the next batter Russell Martin hit into an inning ending double play.

The shut out was broke in the top of the 6th when Xander Bogaerts hit a lead off solo home run to left field. That was all they could muster as R.A. again retired all 3 batters he faced after the lead off hit.

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The Blue Jays answered back in the bottom of the 6th inning. Josh Donaldson led off with a walk and was cashed in on an Edwin Encarnacion two run home run to left field. That home run put the Blue Jays up with a 2-1 lead.

Once again the Red Sox got the lead off man on board in the 7th inning. Brock Holt hit a ground rule double to left field to put the tying run in scoring position. That was the end of the line for R.A. Dickey. Mark Lowe entered the game to pitch for the Blue Jays. Blake Swihart ground out for the 1st out of the inning but was able to advance the runner to 3rd base. Jackie Bradley Jr hit a line drive off of Cliff Pennington`s glove for a double. Brock Holt was able to score on the play to tie up the game. Mookie Betts popped up to 1st base for the 2nd out of the inning. Dustin Pedroia struck out to end the inning.

After one out in the 8th inning Brett Cecil came in to pitch for the Blue Jays. David Ortiz struck out for the 2nd out of the inning. Travis Shaw reached base on an infield single that really should have been scored an error by Cliff Pennington. Regardless, that was the end of the line for Cecil. Roberto Osuna came into the game with two outs in the 8th. Rusney Castillo popped up to end the inning.

Josh Donaldson led off the bottom of the 8th inning with a walk. Jose Bautista followed that up with a walk of his own. Edwin Encarnacion hit a single to left field that scored Donaldson from 2nd base. Chris Colabello hit an infield single to load up the bases with no outs. Jean Machi came in to pitch for the Red Sox. Russell Martin struck out swinging for the 1st out. Kevin Pillar hit a single to center field to score another run and leave the bases loaded. Tommy Layne entered the game to pitch for the Red Sox. Ryan Goins hit into a double play to end the inning but the damage was already done.

Brock Holt led off the top of the 9th with a double to left center field. Blake Swihart struck out looking for the 1st out of the inning. Jackie Bradley Jr smashed a home run to deep center to tie up the game. Dustin Pedroia drew a two out walk. Aaron Sanchez came in to pitch for the Blue Jays. Xander Bogaerts hit a single to right field to put two runners on base. David Ortiz hit a single to score the go ahead run for the Red Sox. Aaron Sanchez threw a wild pitch allowing another run to score. Travis Shaw was intentionally walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Rusney Castillo hit a single to score another run. Ryan Tepera came in to try and pick up the last out of the inning. Brock Holt popped up to mercifully bring the inning to a close.

Robbie Ross Jr. came in to the came to try and close it out for the Red Sox. Josh Donaldson drew a two out walk. Jose Bautista smashed the 1st pitch he saw for a two run home to run deep center field. Matt Hague came in as pinch hitter for Dalton Pompey who pinch ran for Edwin Encarnacion in the 8th. Matt hit a double to center field to extend the inning. Justin Smoak ground out to end the game.

Game Notes:

• Despite having solid defense the knuckle ball effect is in play for Russell Martin. Today he allowed his 19th pass ball of the season. That number is good enough for the most in the majors. He also let a wild pitch slip past him in the 9th inning.
• Mark Lower allowed just the 3rd run to score on a total of 18 inherited base runners this season.
• Ben Revere was caught stealing for the first time as a Blue Jay. He is now 5 for 6 on attempted stolen bases.
• Brett Cecil has not given up a run since June 21st. Since then he has gone 28 straight scoreless appearances.
• Edwin Encarnacion still coming up huge for the Jays. In the last 30 days he has a .362 average with 11 HR and 36 RBI.
• The Blue Jays picked up their first loss of the season when they have a lead after the 8th inning. They were 73-0 until today, now 73-1.

Grades:

B. While the offense didn`t pile up 10+ runs they still were able to get the job done. Patience was key to today`s runs as the team picked up 8 walks and only 8 hits. Of course there was still a home run as the Blue Jays seem to always hit bombs. Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista both hit two run home runs. Edwin and Ben Revere both had multiple hits today. Six total runs and still not a win, sometimes that`s the way the cookie crumbles.. Game Ball. Edwin Encarnacion. OFFENSE

R.A. again had a decent game. It was not his best but you can never complain when a starting picks up a Quality Start. Today he went into the 7th inning but was yanked after the lead off batter reached base. He went 6 complete innings and allowed only 6 hits. While not a lot of hits it seemed he was in danger in 4 of the 6 innings. When he needed it his knuckle ball was on point. Today went into the books as a no decision but he was good enough for the win. His final line was 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 3 K.. . R.A. Dickey. STARTING PITCHER. B+

The bullpen was needed for 3 innings and they did well until the 9th inning. Roberto Osuna and Aaron Sanchez allowed a combined 5 runs. Ryan Tepera finally got them out of the inning. It was an ugly day for the pen. While this is not common it is not ideal to see in September when the pressure is mounting. The final line for all 5 pitchers is 3 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, and 2 BB. . Game Ball. Ryan Tepera. BULLPEN . F

Next: Blue Jays set sights on Royals and home field advantage

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