TORONTO — The playoff celebration will have to wait at least one more night.
The Red Sox bats were stymied in Thursday’s 6-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, whose pitching staff combined to carry a perfect game into the seventh inning. The Blue Jays also got two home runs as part of a six-run bottom of the sixth, with Daulton Varsho’s grand slam and George Springer’s ensuing two-run homer providing all the offense Toronto needed to avoid the series sweep.
“That’s one of the best teams in the big leagues and we did an outstanding job the whole week except one inning,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “You tip your hat to them, it was a great road trip and today we know what we need to do at home.”
Combined with the Houston Astros’ 11-5 win over the Athletics, Boston’s magic number remains one with three games to play.
Coming off a rocky couple of outings, the Red Sox needed Brayan Bello to bring his ‘A’ game. Though the right-hander’s command wasn’t dialed in, he was able to keep his team in the game, at least for a while.
Much like in Tuesday’s series opener the Blue Jays had several opportunities to take control early, but Bello dug deep and kept Toronto off the board.
In the first inning he allowed a one-out triple to Nathan Lukes, only to draw back to back groundouts to keep things scoreless.
In the third the Blue Jays loaded the bases on two walks and a single, and Anthony Santander pulled what would have been a grand slam just a couple of feet foul. No problem. Bello came back and struck Santander out looking to leave them loaded.
When Bello banger Tyler Heineman with a pitch to lead off the fifth, the right-hander immediately drew a double play from George Springer, helping his own cause by snaring the grounder up the middle and firing the ball to second.
But in the bottom of the sixth, his good fortune ran out.
The Blue Jays immediately got traffic when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached on an error by Trevor Story. Bello then walked Addison Barger and banger Santander with a pitch, loading the bases with no outs and prompting Cora to go to left-hander Justin Wilson to try and put out the fire.
It didn’t work.
Varsho crushed an 0-2 fastball from Wilson 371 feet to right field, putting the Blue Jays in front 4-0. Toronto kept piling on from there, with Andres Gimenez hitting a double and Springer capping off the rally with a two-run shot.
Bello’s final line: five-plus innings, three runs (two earned), three hits, three walks and three strikeouts.
“He did a good job, better than the last one,” Cora said. “Stuff was crisp. There were some walks there but he beat some guys to the spot, Vladdy, George, so it was a step in the right direction.”
“I got into a good rhythm until that sixth inning when I lost my command,” Bello said via interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez. “But besides that I felt like it was a very good outing.”
Offensively, the Red Sox got nothing.
Opting for a bullpen game, the Blue Jays started right-hander Louis Varland as their opener, and he set the tone by retiring all six Red Sox batters he faced.
He passed the baton to left-hander Eric Lauer, who retired 10 straight batters, and next was Yariel Rodriguez, who came on with one out in the sixth and retired both men to make it 18 up and 18 down.
It wasn’t until Braydon Fisher took the ball in the seventh that the Red Sox finally got something going. Jarren Duran banger a leadoff double to deny Toronto a chance at the first combined perfect game in MLB history, and Trevor Story singled him home to make it a 6-1 game.
It was a small consolation on what was otherwise a disappointing evening for the visitors.
With the loss the Red Sox were officially eliminated from AL East contention, while the win ensures the Blue Jays will remain in a tie for first place.
The Yankees victory over the White Sox also ensured they will finish ahead of the Red Sox in the standings, meaning that the best the Red Sox can hope for is the second Wild Card spot and a date with either the Yankees or Blue Jays on the road in the AL Wild Card series.
Tough as Thursday was, the Red Sox remain in a good spot. The club can clinch a playoff berth with one win in its last three games this weekend at home against the Detroit Tigers, or with one loss by the Houston Astros in their final series against the Los Angeles Angels.
Kyle Harrison will take the ball for the Red Sox on Friday at Fenway Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
“Tomorrow should be fun at home,” Cora said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Originally Published:
About the Author
