Blue Jays drop a wild, clunky series finale to Red Sox

The Toronto Blue Jays took a long, clunky road to defeat on Sunday afternoon, losing 11-8 to the Boston Red Sox and falling two games back in the American League East playoff race.

In a combination of the Blue Jays’ most important game of the season and one of their most eventful, Aaron Sanchez got a long day of pitching changes started early as he couldn’t escape the fourth inning.

Sanchez allowed six earned runs over three and two-thirds innings on five hits and struggled to attack the zone consistently, walking four.

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Toronto’s greatest downfall at the plate was a top-heavy offence that leaned almost entirely on Edwin Encarnacion and Troy Tulowitzki. With a pair of home runs, Encarnacion now has 39 on the season after going 3-for-4 with three RBI. Tulowitzki’s grand slam in the third inning may have been the loudest roar the Rogers’ Centre has witnessed all season. Beyond that duo, though, the Blue Jays managed just two singles.

Amid a massive bullpen effort a trio of left-handers stood out as a positive takeaway. Brett Cecil, Aaron Loup, and Matt Dermody all looked strong in their brief outings, and Loup was involved in one of the game’s more bizarre plays as he threw out Brock Holt trying to steal home to end the fifth inning.

Much like Toronto’s unbalanced lineup, the rotation was a story of two sides as every right-handed reliever — and there were five of them — allowed at least one earned run. Between Boston and Toronto a whopping 18 pitchers were used, including starters.

As is often the case in games like this, tensions were running high as the marathon stretched on. Kevin Pillar came close to an ejection for arguing a questionable strike call and John Gibbons was later tossed from the game for the eighth time this season.

The Blue Jays held an 8-5 lead after four innings, but Boston’s comeback was powered by a three-run sixth and Joaquin Benoit was tagged with the loss.

On Monday the Blue Jays welcome the Tampa Bay Rays for a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. ET.