Boston Red Sox lose series as Toronto Blue Jays secure a 7-4 final game victory
The Boston Red Sox had the opportunity to square their series against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on Thursday, September 8. They unfortunately squandered their chances when Andrew Miller conceded five runs early for the visitors
and Ricky Romero kept the Boston club at bay for just over six innings.
Miller started for the Boston side and there was much expectation from the hurler who suffered a humiliating defeat in the previous match against the Texas Rangers. He unfortunately was not up to the mark as the Toronto side blew the second innings with
four runs and later added a fifth to Miller’s till in the third.
The Red Sox tried their best to respond quickly but their effort ran dead till the seventh inning when Ricky Romero allowed three runs. Jason Varitek tried his best to stir things up in the ninth, but his homer was not followed with much inspiration.
Kelly Johnson scored the first run for the Blue Jays in the second through a RBI single from David Cooper. J. P. Arencibia came in the same inning to knock a three run homer towards left field. He allowed Cooper and Brett Lawrie to run home in style for
Toronto.
4-0 up, the Blue Jays increased their lead through Edwin Encarnacion who smashed a marvelous home-run to right field. The score was now 5-0 and the Red Sox had no quick response.
However their reply came in the seventh when a double from Jacoby Ellsbury allowed Jason Varitek to run home. Romero was replaced by Casey Janssen but the move made no difference for the Red Sox as Marco Scutaro grabbed a two-run RBI single. Darnell McDonald
and Ellsbury scored for the Red Sox to place the team on a 3-5 score line.
Toronto responded through Eric Thames in the bottom of the seventh. The left fielder lofted Felix Doubront for a massive homer to right field. The score was 6-3, in favour of the Blue Jays. They increased the lead through Cooper again who developed a RBI
double to lead Lawrie in for the seventh run.
The game ended on 7-4 when Varitek smashed a homer in the ninth in a desperate attempt to keep the game away from the Blue Jays.
David Ortiz, who went 0-for-3, explained the series well.
"The first game here, those guys pitched their [butts] off," said David Ortiz. "The second game we beat them up. Yesterday was a game we should have won. Today they came out of the gates swinging. We have to make adjustments."
Boston manager Terry Francona went a step further to explain the recent losses to the Blue Jays.
"I think we care about winning a lot," said Terry Francona. "I don't get too concerned about what they're doing. We try to expend our energy worrying about what we do. If we win, we'll be OK."
Dustin Pedroia also had a bad day in the strike zone as he went 0-for-5. He emphasized that the team was trying their best.
"We're all trying to do good things and we're trying to win games," Pedroia said. "It's that time of year where we've got to do that. It will turn."
Boston will want to lead the American League by the end of the season. However in order to do so, they need to keep winning.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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