It’s still early in the season, but painful losses are starting to pile up for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox were just one out from a much-needed victory on Tuesday night in Toronto when another nightmare ensued. George Springer smashed a game-tying home run in the ninth, and the Red Sox couldn’t recover in extra innings of a gut-wrenching 6-5 loss at Rogers Centre.
The Red Sox have now lost four consecutive games — which includes two walk-off defeats v and have lost seven of their last nine games.
Diekman blows it
Handed the ball with a three-run lead in the ninth, Jake Diekman couldn’t close the deal.
The Blue Jays were aggressive right away against the Red Sox lefty, as Raimel Tapia and Santigao Espinal combined for back-to-back doubles to make it a two-run game. Diekman responded with strikeouts of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Bradley Zimmer, but he couldn’t make the final out he needed.
A night after Bo Bichette hit a game-winning grand slam, the Red Sox were the victim of the long ball again. Springer smoked Diekman’s 96-mph fastball to center for a no-doubt, game-tying home run that stunned the Red Sox and erupted Rogers Centre.
The Red Sox still had a chance to win in the 10th, but it snowballed on them. With Trevor Story at second base, they couldn’t get him home. Alex Verdugo grounded out, moving Story to third, but Xander Bogaerts lined out and J.D. Martinez struck out.
The Blue Jays needed just one run to win it, and they got it after Matt Barnes intentionally walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and then walked Alejandro Kirk to load the bases with no outs. He struck out Matt Chapman, but Matt Strahm took over and couldn’t get out Tapia, who hit a sacrifice fly that scored Bo Bichette to win it.
Offense wakes up
Will the eighth inning of Tuesday night’s win against the Blue Jays serve as the turning point that finally awakened the Red Sox’ offense?
Despite the loss, a four-run rally in the eighth inning was an encouraging sign for a Red Sox offense that desperately needed one.
The Red Sox once again looked sleepy on offense through the first seven innings, thanks to another dominant effort from Jays starter Kevin Gausman. Five days after he shut them down at Fenway Park, the right-hander allowed just one run over six terrific innings as he induced the Sox into 19 swings and misses. They were helpless against him.
But the Red Sox’ eyes surely lit up when the Jays took Gausman out and went to their bullpen.
It all finally came together in the eighth inning. Rafael Devers — who started the game on the bench in what was originally a scheduled off day — pinch hit for Christian Arroyo and started the rally with a leadoff single. Christian Vazquez followed with another single, and the Red Sox finally started stringing at-bats together.
Then, Story emerged with the biggest hit of his early Red Sox career. Facing a 1-2 count against Yimi Garcia, the second baseman ripped a slider down in the zone and crushed it off the left-field wall, narrowly missing a home run with the game-tying double.
The Red Sox weren’t done, as Verdugo’s sac fly to left put them ahead. They added on with Bogaerts’ RBI double down the left-field line — the shortstop’s third hit of the night — before Kiké Hernandez’s two-out RBI single gave them what seemed like a comfortable 5-2 cushion.
Step forward for Pivetta
After what his first three starts of the season looked like, Tuesday marked improvement for Nick Pivetta.
Pivetta felt like he found something in his mechanics against the Jays last Wednesday, when he gave up five runs in the second inning but rebounded with two shutout frames. He carried some of that momentum into Tuesday night’s start, when he flew through the first two innings. But he continued to be bit by walks and had to battle through the rest of his outing.
Pivetta allowed four more walks — bringing his total to 13 this season — including free passes to start the third and fourth that cost him. A 29-pitch third followed him as Springer’s two-out RBI single gave the Jays a 1-0 lead, and a long fourth culminated in a two-out RBI single from Espinal.
Still, Pivetta gave the Red Sox a chance after throwing 98 pitches in 4 2/3 innings as they trailed just 2-1 when he departed.
