Blue Jays drop 2nd in a row to Red Sox in 4-3 loss

4. 14. 3. 39. Final

Sunday afternoon the Blue Jays hosted the Red Sox for the rubber match of the 3 game set. After a tough late inning loss on Saturday the Blue Jays still had the opportunity to secure a series win versus an AL East rival. Mark Buehrle made his 29th start of the season while looking for his 15th win. The Red Sox sent out journeyman Rich Hill to the mound who was making only his 2nd start of the season. Rich took a no decision on 7 innings of work on his only other start this year.

The Red Sox started to get something going early as Mookie Betts led off the game with a walk. Dustin Pedroia smacked a single to center field to put runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs. Xander Bogaerts lined out to short for the 1st out of the inning. David Ortiz hit into an inning ending double play allowing Mark Buehrle to escape the jam.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning Edwin Encarnacion led off with a single to left field. After a Chris Colabello strike out Dioner Navarro flashed some power with a two run home run to left field. With one out Kevin Pillar put down a bunt single to the 1st base side of the diamond. Ryan Goins followed that up with a single to left center field. Cliff Pennington struck out for the 2nd out of the inning. Ben Revere hit the 3rd single of the inning allowing Kevin Pillar to score from 2nd base. Josh Donaldson struck out to end the inning.

Xander Bogaerts led off the 4th inning with an infield single. David Ortiz ground out but a throwing error by the usual sure handed Mark Buehrle allowed Xander Bogaerts come come all the way around and score. The Red Sox continued to threaten as Travis Shaw hit another infield single. Pablo Sandoval flied out to center field for the 2nd out. Rusney Castillo hit a double to left field putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Sandy Leon popped up to end the inning.

Dioner Navarro led off the bottom of the 4th inning with a single. Kevin Pillar hit into a fielder’s choice just legging out the double play. After a couple pitches Kevin pulled off a delayed steal to put a runner on 2nd base with only one out. That didn’t matter as both Ryan Goins and Cliff Pennington hit ground ball outs to end the inning.

In the top of the 5th Jackie Bradley Jr led off with a single to left field. Mookie Betts reached on a fielder’s choice after a Cliff Pennington throw took Colabello off the bag and broke up the double play. Dustin Pedroia hit a fly ball to right field for the 2nd out. Xander Bogaerts hit a single to right center field to put runners on 1st and 3rd. David Ortiz was issued a walk to load up the bases with two outs. Travis Shaw hit a single to left field to score two runs. Pablo Sandoval ground out to end the inning but the game was all tied up.

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Liam Hendriks entered the game to pitch the 7th inning for the Blue Jays. Dustin Pedroia led off with an infield single. Xander Bogaerts struck out for the 1st out of the inning. Brett Cecil entered the game to pitch to David Ortiz. Dustin Pedroia stole 2nd base to stop a potential double play. David Ortiz struck out for the 2nd out. Travis Shaw then struck out to end the inning and keep the game tied up.

Matt Hague entered the game as a pinch hitter for Cliff Pennington in the bottom of the 7th and struck out. Rich Hill once again retired the side in order.

In the 8th inning Pablo Sandoval reached base on a fielding error by Brett Cecil. Mark Lowe came in to pitch for the Blue Jays. Rusney Castillo ground out advancing the runner to 2nd base. Sandy Leon hit a single to right field to put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Jackie Bradley Jr hit a sacrifice fly to center field. Kevin Pillar threw a strike to home plate but Dioner Navarro could not catch the ball to tag the runner. Mookie Betts struck out to end the inning.

Noé Ramírez came in to pitch the 8th inning for the Red Sox. Edwin Encarnacion hit a long two out single to left field. Dalton Pompey came in as a pinch runner. Dalton was able to advance to 2nd base after a throwing error in an attempt to pick him off. With two outs and a runner in scoring position Chris Colabello ground out to end the inning.

LaTroy Hawkins pitched a clean 9th inning for the Blue Jays.

Robbie Ross Jr came in to pitch the 9th inning for the Red Sox. With two outs pinch hitter Russell Martin punched a ground rule double to right field. That set up the tying run in scoring position for Justin Smoak. Justin struck out to end the game.

Game Notes:

• Kevin Pillar continues to contribute day in and day out. His speed was used on the base paths with a bunt single, stolen base, and a run scored. The stolen base was his 20th of the season.
• Rich Hill locked down the offense after the 2nd inning. After the 2nd inning he allowed only 2 hits on 5 innings of work. He was on point for 7 strong innings limiting the best offense in baseball to only 3 runs.
• The defense was not on point today. They committed 3 errors but there were plenty of sloppy plays that did not get scored an error. It was unusual to see this type of play from the Blue Jays. Hopefully this is just a one off day as even the best defense will have off days.
• Pablo Sandoval scoring on a sacrifice fly marked the first run to go against Brett Cecil in 29 games. It was unearned due to Pablo reaching base on an error. It was also doubly unearned as Dioner should have been able to tag Pablo out and exit the inning.

Grades:

C. I don’t want to give Dioner the game ball but I have to. He did show up at the plate today despite his lack of defense. He picked up a two run home run and a single for a pair of hits, pair of RBIs, and a run. Edwin Encarnacion also picked up a pair of hits. Kevin Pillar had a good day with a bunt single, run scored, and a stolen base. Ben Revere is as consistent as they come. He picked up another hit and an RBI today. The offense was only able to muster the 3 runs. The main guns of Donaldson and Bautista were silent today.. Game Ball. Dioner Navarro. OFFENSE

B. Mark did his thing again today. He logged yet another Quality Start. While he gave up his fair share of hits he pitched out of a couple jams. Mark may not get to his 200 innings this year but he has certainly helped contribute to the winning record. Today he was not factored into the decision after leaving the game with a 3-3 tie. His final line was 6 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, and 1 K.. . Mark Buehrle. STARTING PITCHER

B. The bullpen was needed for 3 innings again today. After back to back quality starts from the starters the pen was needed to pick up the rest of the game. They only allowed a single run that was unearned. This could have been an A if Cecil did not commit an error. Liam Hendriks, Mark Lowe, and LaTroy Hawkins all pitched pretty well. Cecil did okay picking up two strike outs but was responsible for the run that came across in the 8th inning. They all combined for 3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, and 4 K. . Game Ball. LaTroy Hawkins. BULLPEN

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

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