BOSTON -- Critical games are being handed on a silver platter for the Red Sox, and they’re simply refusing to take them.
It was a new night, but the same old story for the Red Sox on Thursday night at Fenway Park. A night after squandering two bases-loaded chances in a loss, it somehow got worse, as they wasted two opportunities in inexplicable fashion and were swept by the Blue Jays again with a 6-5 loss in 10 innings.
Pick your squander, and it came back to haunt the Red Sox.
Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth, Reese McGuire earned a gift leadoff triple when Jays right fielder Teoscar Hernandez misplayed a ball, giving the Red Sox a huge chance for a go-ahead run with no outs. But they came away empty-handed. Bobby Dalbec struck out, then after Jarren Duran was hit by a pitch, Tommy Pham was punched out before Rafael Devers grounded out.
Matt Barnes pitched a shutout ninth as part of a strong bullpen effort that kept the Sox in it, but then came the biggest squander of all. Bases loaded, no outs after hits by J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerrts, the Red Sox threw away their chance to win it. Franchy Cordero struck out and Kiké Hernandez grounded out into a double play to send the game to extras.
The Jays scored the winning run in the 10th when George Springer hit a grounder to shortstop, where Bogaerts threw home but Cavan Biggio slid home safely. The Red Sox’ fate seemed to be sealed after that, as they went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th to clinch the loss.
The Red Sox finished the night 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position as they dropped their fourth game in a row and sixth in their last seven.
For a third consecutive night, the Red Sox started a rookie against the dangerous Blue Jays, a tough recipe alone to win. Kutter Crawford was better than he was last Friday – when he couldn’t get out of the fourth inning after allowing nine runs – but not much. He allowed four runs on 10 hits, and had trouble finishing off innings.
Crawford made his own mess in the third, when he recorded two quick outs against the top of the Jays order before back-to-back singles and a throwing error put runners on second and third. He responded by striking out Bo Bichette, but wasn’t as fortunate in the fourth. After inducing Raimel Tapia into a double play, Crawford found more two-out trouble. No. 8 and 9 hitters Santiago Espinal and Danny Jansen singled, and George Springer walked to load the bases. That brought up the dangerous Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was nearly retired when he hit a pop up in foul territory down the first-base line. But Bobby Dalbec couldn’t make a tough play over his shoulder.
Guerrero, as he does, capitalized. He singled to right and scored two, with Jansen just barely beating Rob Refsnyder’s strong throw from right for the go-ahead run.
But the Red Sox kept putting the ball in the play, and the bottom of their order kept them in it. They responded in the fourth, as Refsnyder and Reese McGuire singled before Dalbec hit a game-tying sac fly.
Kevin Gausman has mostly dominated the Red Sox this season – he entered Thursday with a 1.38 ERA in four starts against them – but Boston seemed to start figuring him out over the last two. They got him for three runs in his last start in Boston – when the Jays won, 28-5 – and tagged him for four runs Thursday, equaling the number he had allowed in the first 26 innings against the Red Sox this season. The Sox gave themselves a good chance by chasing him after five innings.
The Red Sox proved resilient again in the sixth. After Jansen – who had three hits – hit a go-ahead homer to the front row of the Monster seats in the sixth, they rallied back again. Dalbec reached second on a two-out, two-base throwing error by Bichette, and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Duran went to the opposite field with a game-tying RBI double.
