The Sox were hoping that Lester could be the stopper they needed and get the team back on track. Lester instead followed suit with the starters before him and put the Sox in a big hole early. Lester gave up 7 runs before the 3rd inning and that sealed the fate for the team to lose their 7th straight game.
Lester struggled right out of the gate. Lester gave up back to back homeruns to Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista. Sox 0-2. The Sox were able to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Jonny Gomes hit an RBI single. Sox 1-2. What looked bad in the 1st looked worse in the 2nd inning. Lester gave up 5 runs in the 2nd and looked absolutely lost. I can’t remember a time when Lester gave up 5 runs in an inning. Lester gave up a 2 run RBI single to Reyes, an RBI single to Bautista, RBI single to Encarnacion and an RBI sac grounder to Lawrie. Sox 1-7. Any hope that the Sox and the crowd had at Fenway was long gone at this point. In the top of the 2nd, Xander Bogaerts hit a solo HR to score the Sox their 2nd run of the game. Sox 2-7. Xander has been absolutely locked in at the plate during this skid that the Sox have been going through.
After the 2nd inning, Lester settled in and pitched pretty well. He stayed in the game until the 7th inning and didn’t give up a run since the 2nd inning. Lester got an out and then gave up a single in the 7th and was out of the game. Burke Badenhop came in and got one out before Breslow was in the game to finish off the inning. Breslow had 2 runners on and 2 outs and got Navarro to foul out to end the inning. Unfortunately for the Sox Mark Buehrle was still in the game and the Sox weren’t getting anything done against him. Buehrle pitched 7 strong before handing it over to the Jays bullpen who always kept the Sox off the scoreboard. Breslow pitched a scoreless 8th inning as well and then Tazawa pitched the 9th. The Jays often spell trouble for Tazawa, but he got through the inning without letting them add to the lead.
The Sox have now lost 7 straight games, are 6 games under .500 and 5 games behind the leader in the AL East. It’s been a rough week at Fenway and now the boys head to Tampa to hope to right the ship there.
Red Sox 2 Blue Jays 7 BOXSCORE
WP: Buehrle (8-1) LP: Lester (4-6)
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