Coming into Friday, Boston’s bats were as cold as ice. The Red Sox had managed just 11 runs in their last seven games, and they hadn’t managed more than two in a game since last Saturday.
Sooner or later they had to break out of their funk, right?
The Red Sox finally got back on track in Friday’s series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, delivering an all-around team effort in the 5-0 win. James Paxton was dominant on the mound, throwing 7 2/3 shutout innings, and his teammates gave him a lift by scoring five runs on nine hits while also putting together one of the club’s better defensive showings this season.
In doing so, the Red Sox snapped their season-high five-game losing streak and also improved to 5-0 against the Blue Jays, who absolutely had Boston’s number last year.
“Stuff-wise I think tonight was his best one,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Paxton’s performance, noting that it came after he left his last start after four innings due to a sore knee. “He worked hard during the week to be able to make this start and it paid off.”
The Red Sox got on the board in the fourth when Justin Turner took Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios deep for a solo home run. The offense really got going in the fifth when Connor Wong led off the inning with a double and Jarren Duran left the yard for a two-run shot, and later in the inning Masataka Yoshida cranked his ninth home run of the season for a solo shot to make it 4-0.
Yoshida finished 3 for 4 on the day, and Duran also had an excellent catch against the center field wall on a deep fly ball by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first.
“I knew it was over my head so I put my head down and kept running, I saw the wall coming and it started to die a bit so I’m like ‘oh please make this play for Pax,' ” Duran told NESN’s Jahmai Webster after the game. “I’m just glad the lowered the wall, if it was the taller wall I probably wouldn’t have gotten to it.”
Turner would drive in another run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth, and that was more than enough breathing room for Paxton, who limited the Blue Jays to just three hits and two walks while striking out seven. Paxton left with two men on in the eighth after throwing 110 pitches, and Chris Martin punched out Brandon Belt to end Toronto’s only threat of the day.
Kaleb Ort closed things out in the ninth, pitching around a bizarre miscommunication that saw Rafael Devers collide with Christian Arroyo and result in a routine popup falling in. Ort got the next three batters in succession to close out Boston’s first shutout win of the season.
Paxton’s importance since coming off the injured list can’t be overstated. Through nine starts he has now posted a 2.70 ERA with 61 strikeouts over 50 innings, and he’s given the rotation a massive boost with Chris Sale and Tanner Houck out.
All of that’s even more incredible when you consider Paxton didn’t pitch at all in his first year with the Red Sox and didn’t debut this year until May 12 due to a spring training setback. That he’s fought his way back and become such a workhorse is as unexpected as it is remarkable.
Whether he continues to anchor the Red Sox rotation or becomes a valuable trade piece if the club opts to sell at the trade deadline remains to be seen. For now the Red Sox (41-42) will look to try and climb back into contention, starting with another series win against Toronto (45-38).
Kutter Crawford (2-4, 4.01 ERA) will take the mound Saturday against Yusei Kikuchi (7-2, 3.75), first pitch is scheduled for 3:07 p.m.
