Jon Lester took the mound for the Red Sox and it would be an understatement to say that it did not go well. Lester has had bad outing after bad outing this season and this performance showed that this doesn’t look like it is going to change anytime soon. Lester brought the Sox on their way to being swept by the Toronto Blue Jays who were struggling themselves before heading into town to face us.
Lester came to the mound and by the time the first inning was over he gave up 5 runs. The first pitch of the game was sent over the Green Monster for a HR by Brett Lawrie. Lester issued a walk, gave up a single, an RBI ground rule double, an RBI sac grounder and another double. Sox 0-4. The Blue Jays scored their final run of the first with a sac bunt. Sox 0-5. In the 2nd inning, Lester continues his struggles by giving up a 3 run HR to Arencibia and then a solo HR to Davis right after that. Lester went a couple of innings without giving up runs, however in the 5th he gave up another HR. This time it was a 2 run HR to Snider. At that point, Bobby V had enough and went out to get him. Lester left the mound covered in boos from the crowd.
Junichi Tazawa came into the game in relief in the 5th. Tazawa got the 3 outs the Sox needed and got out of the inning. Tazawa pitched a scoreless 6th and 7th inning as well. Tazawa has really been a nice addition to the bullpen since being called up when Atchison went on the DL. Mark Melancon took the mound in the 8th and this was not his best outing. Melancon gave up 3 singles in a row to load the bases with no outs. Melancon gave up an RBI single for his 4th single in a row. Then the Jays got another run on a sac fly. Melancon gave up another single and Bobby V replaced him with Matt Albers. Albers gave up a single and a RBI sac fly. Albers finally got the 3rd out and the inning was over, however not before 4 more runs scored. Alfredo Aceves who hasn’t worked in a while came out in the 9th and pitched a scoreless inning.
As for the offense, they got something going on, but not enough to make up for the pitching giving up 15 runs. In the first inning, Gonzo gave us hope when he hit a no doubter HR to center field for 3 runs. If Lester had let us, we would have been right back in this game. In the 4th, the Sox scored another run on an Aviles sac fly that scored Gonzo. Jacoby Ellsbury hit his first HR of the season in the 5th inning when he hit one out to dead center field. It was nice to see him pop one out since being back. I hope we see much more of the same in the future. In the 6th, Aviles hit an RBI double and then Punto hit an RBI single. The offense was able to score 7 runs so they did their job, however whenever they cracked the scoreboard the pitching would give those runs back and then some.
Now the Sox head off to Texas and New York. Let’s cross our fingers and toes. A lot.
Red Sox 7 Blue Jays 15 BOXSCORE
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