Toronto Blue Jays defeat Boston Red Sox 1-0 – MLB Update
The Toronto Blue Jays inched closer to the .500 winning percentage as they blanked the Boston Red Sox 1-0 over 11 innings at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario on Monday, September 5 to further dent their chances of finishing atop the American League East
division.
The Blue Jays did well to counter the Red Sox for almost four hours before finally sealing the game in the 11th inning via Brett Lawrie’s gigantic home-run towards centre-field. Red Sox were forced to bring the inexperienced Dan Wheeler to pitch
in the 11th inning after having already used their mainstay attack earlier. Wheeler could not replicate what other pitchers had displayed and one wayward throw saw him being smacked out of the park.
The game was dominated by pitchers from either side. Josh Beckett started for the Red Sox but was able to continue till the fourth inning only before being replaced by Alfredo Aceves. Both pitchers kept things tight for the home side who were not allowing
any hits at will. The Blue Jays could manage just four hits in the combined 7.1 innings that Beckett and Aceves threw.
Henderson Alvarez equally matched his opposite number and produced a gem of a performance for Toronto. Blue Jays’ starter pitched six top-quality innings for just four hits and four strike-outs to see his ERA plunge to 2.95. His performance was commendable
largely because he managed to keep Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz at bay for his entire spell.
Gonzalez and Ortiz managed to connect just once in their four at-bats and this feat should improve Alvarez’s confidence. The Blue Jays are in desperate need of a renaissance in their roster and promoting this starting pitcher might be a good starting point.
Apart from Lawrie, no other batter from Toronto impressed. Jose Bautista and Kelly Johnson have been hitting brilliantly this season but this game was a complete failure for both. Bautista did not manage a single hit in four at-bats whereas Johnson produced
a solitary hit in five chances on the plate.
The loss took the Red Sox 2.5 games behind the New York Yankees.
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