Boston Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Game 2 – MLB Post Game Analysis
The Boston Red Sox reinvigorated after a 0-1 loss on Monday, September 5 to thrash the Toronto Blue Jays 14-0 on Tuesday, September 6 and level the four-game series 1-1. Playing at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, the Red Sox displayed epic team-work to
annihilate the struggling Blue Jays amid intense pitching from starter Jon Lester and quality batting from Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz.
Lester showed great arm strength in seven innings of fine-pitching to brutally wreck the home side. He allowed just three hits in his spell, which saw him bag a season high 11 strike-outs on his way to his 15th win of the season. Lester now has
a win-loss record of 15-6 for the season and will be a vital force for Boston as they prepare for the playoffs and continue to vie for the top-spot in the American League with the New York Yankees.
Lester did not hesitate in using his entire repertoire of deliveries over his 100 pitches. The fastball was well disguised with his cutter and strikes were produced at will. Manager Terry Francona appreciated Lester’s performance saying that it was good
to see him in form prior to the postseason and his fitness will now be vital for the bull-pen. This win took Lester to 4-0 in his last five starts in the Majors with an ERA of 1.16 in this stretch.
Gonzalez was not impressive in the first game but came back strongly to score three runs and drive another two in his five at-bats to further improve his batting average to .342 for the season. Gonzalez is having the best season of his career and he will
now want to finish this on a high-note too.
Ortiz, the All-Star home-run Derby captain and Boston’s designated hitter, failed to deliver in the 0-1 loss but played a crucial role in this game as he connected a career-best four times in six at-bats. The right-handed slugger scored three precious-runs
and drove in another two to see his batting average surge to .318 and his slugging percentage inch closer to the .600 mark.
A surprise-package for the Red Sox was Marco Scutaro who was promoted to the sixth spot in the batting line-up. He has been a regular feature at the bottom of the line-up but Francona instilled confidence in the shortstop and that rightfully paid off. Scutaro
could not really digest his promotion and remained adamant that the team was experimenting on him, but his five at-bats saw him produce four RBIs, four hits and two runs in five at-bats for his batting average to increase to .282. The team might want Scutaro
to be a regular feature in this position to increase the depth in their line-up.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia showed his usefulness deep in the batting line-up as he unleashed his arms in the third inning to record his 15th home-run of the season. The Red Sox seem to be getting the right momentum in pursue of the division championship
and consistency is now the key to success for the team.
With 20 more games left in the season, the Red Sox will aim at getting as close to 100 wins as possible. They have 85 wins to their credit already and this aim does not seem to be a distant possibility. The series is currently tied with one game apiece with
the remaining two games scheduled for September 7 and 8 respectively.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: