BOSTON – Given that their offence is built around the big blow, the relative infrequency of big blows is among the most troubling Toronto Blue Jays traits of this sideways season. All too often they’ve lacked the pivotal knock that opens up close games, creates margin for error and eases the tension of hitting and pitching in near constant leverage.
The big blow didn’t come once again Tuesday night, when they instead scratched and clawed their way to a pair of leads that didn’t hold up, the second disappearing in part because of a bunt popped over the head of a charging Josh Donaldson, helping end Roberto Osuna’s streak of 22 straight converted save opportunities.
Eventually, a remarkable contest of attrition came to an end when Mike Bolsinger, two innings after recording just the second four-strikeout frame in franchise history, surrendered a walkoff homer to Hanley Ramirez in a gutting 5-4, 15-inning loss to the Boston Red Sox. The game, which only started after an hour-long rain delay, was the longest of the Blue Jays season in terms of innings, and at four hours 59 minutes, was second in length to an 8-7, 13-inning win April 21 at Anaheim that took 5:36.
“They played their hearts out man, they played their butts off,” said manager John Gibbons.
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Yet the Blue Jays have nothing to show for it other than bumps, bruises and the need for roster moves to fortify a bullpen that used seven of its eight relievers over 9.1 innings.
The use of Bolsinger for 3.1 innings also surely removes him from the mix as the backup plan for Thursday if the tightness in Francisco Liriano’s neck resurfaces after the lefty’s 25-pitch side session Tuesday afternoon. But Bolsinger said he told pitching coach Pete Walker after the game that “if they need me to pitch an inning [Wednesday], it’s something I can do.”
Either way, Aaron Sanchez gets the ball Wednesday evening, and Gibbons was understating things when he said, “we need a good start.”
Also of concern is Russell Martin’s right hand, which was struck by a foul tip, and the thumb of Josh Donaldson, who left the field in pain after applying the inning-ending tag on Xander Bogaerts at third base in the 11th on the Mookie Betts single that tied things up 4-4.
Both stayed in the game, and Donaldson said he was fine.
“They’re banged up,” said Gibbons. “We’ll have a little better idea tomorrow but I don’t think it’s anything.”
Osuna, pitching for a third straight day, gave up a Jackie Bradley Jr., leadoff single before Sandy Leon bunted over Donaldson to put two men on. Two outs later Betts singled through the right side.
“Yeah, you don’t see that too often,” Gibbons said of the bunt play. “You come in aggressively, try to make a play. You won’t see that too often. We almost got out of it.”
The Blue Jays put up a three-run fifth against lefty Brian Johnson but squandered chances for more before, during and after that frame, most frustratingly in the eighth when they had men on the corners with none out and came up empty.
They broke through when Steve Pearce opened the 11th against Brandon Workman with a double, took third on a Kevin Pillar single and scored on a Ryan Goins lineout to centre field, but it wasn’t enough.
That inning was the reverse of a particularly frustrating sequence in the eighth, when Troy Tulowitzki opened the frame with his third of four singles and took third on a Pearce base hit. Pillar followed by hitting a grounder right at Dustin Pedroia with the infield drawn in, freezing Tulowitzki at third as the second baseman tagged Pearce for one out and threw to first for the second. Pinch-hitter Goins was then caught looking to end the threat.
Tulowitzki also opened the 13th with a drive off the Monster but only made it to first base on a strange play, promptly getting erased when Pearce swung through a full-count pitch and he thrown out at second.
“I didn’t get it all, so I wasn’t sure if he was going to jump for it or what so I kind of had my head down and when I put my head up I lost the ball, and I thought [Andrew Benintendi] had it in his glove,” Tulowitzki said of his single. “Deked, or I didn’t see it, one of those things where I felt like he had the ball and I couldn’t go to second.”
The Blue Jays had put themselves in position for a much less taxing night against the American League East leaders but, much like Monday, let them back into the game.
The Red Sox tied things 3-3 in the seventh when Dominic Leone recorded a pair of outs after Jeff Beliveau allowed a leadoff single to Brock Holt before Pedroia pounded a ball off the Green Monster against the right-hander for a second straight night.
“It was deja-vu,” said Gibbons.
J.A. Happ left the game up 3-2 having allowed a Pedroia solo shot and Ramirez walk in the sixth. The left-hander rode his four-seamer to a strong early start but was grinded his second time through the lineup, surrendering a Chris Young solo shot in the fourth that opened the scoring.
After the Blue Jays put up their three-spot in the fifth, Happ delivered an eight-pitch shutdown frame in the bottom half before hitting a wall the next inning, the sixth time in 12 starts he hasn’t made it through six frames this season.
Still, had the Blue Jays done more at the plate, his efforts and those of the seven relievers that followed him would have been enough.
Jose Bautista’s leadoff double and Justin Smoak’s two-out walk in the first went to waste, as did a bases-loaded, one-out buildup in the second. In the fifth, the Blue Jays got an RBI double from Smoak and run-scoring singles from Kendrys Morales and Tulowitzki but again they couldn’t deliver the knockout.
“We’ve had some guys that haven’t been themselves yet,” said Tulowitzki. “There’s still some time, hopefully we can come through soon here and play more like ourselves.”
Certainly their hitting with runners in scoring position is an oft-discussed issue – they entered the game 14th in the American League at .222 and went 4-for-15 – but so too is their low slugging. At only .408 to start the night, they were also 14th in that category, their expected strength a weakness far too difficult to regularly overcome.
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