Three things: Blue Jays’ ninth-inning rally against Red Sox hides the flaws
Trent Thornton #TrentThornton
Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 6-5 win over the Red Sox at Rogers Centre on Tuesday:
Oh what a ninth
Trailing by a run going into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Jays didn’t have to face Red Sox closer Tanner Houck, who can’t cross the border because he chose not to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Instead, Boston sent rookie Tyler Danish out for a second inning of work, and he gave up a pinch-hit single to Alejandro Kirk and walked George Springer. Hansel Robles took over, and Bo Bichette sent his first pitch to right field for a game-tying single. Three pitches later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to left and the Jays had their third walk-off win of the season.
Bullpen blow-up
The Jays’ short-handed bullpen needed to protect a 4-2 lead for four innings. Adam Cimber worked a scoreless sixth inning against the middle of the Red Sox order, but Trent Thornton’s inning with the bottom of the order did not go well. A walk brought leadoff man Rob Refsnyder to the plate and the former Jay tied the game with a two-out home run to dead centre, just the eighth homer of his career.
Tim Mayza struck out J.D. Martinez to end the inning, preserving the tie, but gave up an RBI single to Christian Vázquez in the eighth to give Boston a go-ahead run.
Get back
Teoscar Hernández took off for second base on a full-count pitch to Matt Chapman in the fifth inning. Chapman popped up foul behind the plate and Hernández saw the catcher, Vázquez, going after it and started to head back to first, but not with much urgency. Hernández may have thought the ball was going to wind up in the seats, but it didn’t. Vázquez caught the ball at the screen and fired to first to double up Hernández by half a step.
Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnernessO SHARE:
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