Red Sox Wrap: Blue Jays Take Advantage Of Taxed Boston Bullpen
BOSTON — The Red Sox continued their slide Saturday afternoon, falling, 5-4, to the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox fell to 57-53 on the season, while the Jays improved to 62-50.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Red Sox are scuffling in just about every phase of the game.
As the calendar turned to August, it became apparent that Boston’s bullpen was starting to wear thin after spending the better half of two months backing up a three-man rotation. Though the likes of Nick Pivetta and Brennan Bernardino shined in their stacked bulk/opener roles, the clock was ticking on things coming back to earth — at least a little bit.
The clock ran out Saturday.
Pivetta was selected to eat innings after John Schreiber opened, and allowed the most hits (six) and earned runs (three) he had in an appearance out of the bullpen all season. The Red Sox tried to steal an inning from Bernardino after Pivetta was done, but the 31-year-old only registered one out while giving up three hits and the lead.
The defense wasn’t exactly stellar, either, with Boston committing two errors on the day, while Rafael Devers nearly threw another two routine plays away. Devers did his job on the offensive end, but was the only Red Sox batter to drive in a run. The rest of the offense squandered solid pitching around Pivetta and Bernardino, as Toronto stranded 13 baserunners.
Just look at the finish of the game, where Reese McGuire made a baserunning error to get doubled up to end a possible comeback. In the worst possible time to fall flat, Boston is doing just that.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Brandon Belt provided a key boost to Toronto’s offense, finishing 2-for-4 from the plate with a home run, walk and two RBIs.
— George Springer likes Fenway Park. The veteran finished 4-for-4 from the dish with four singles and a walk, and even added a stolen base to his statline.
— Davis Schneider continues to show out at the big-league level. The rookie not only belted a home run in his debut Friday, but finished 3-for-3 with three singles and a walk Saturday.
WAGER WATCH
Devers smoked a home run 430 feet, and it appears DraftKings Sportsbook wasn’t very surprised to see him knock one out. DK gave him +350 odds to hit a homer, with a $100 bet netting a $450 payout.
ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox and Blue Jays will wrap up their three-game set at Fenway Park on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.