Every once in a while, you get a picture (like that one up there of Jarren Duran) that so perfectly encapsulates how the night went for the offense, you just have to use it.
After a three game winning streak that included several signs of life from the lineup, they regressed right back into the puddle of ineptitude at the plate we’ve seen far to often this year. Their best chance to score came in the first inning when Willson Contreras hit a one out double, but after failing to get that run home, they had only one at bat with a runner in scoring position the rest of the night. That’s pretty much all you need to know.
If you’re feeling generous, you can say they were facing Trey Yesavage, who’s an excellent young pitcher and will be a thorn in the side of AL East opponents for years to come. But on the other hand, he was making his first big league start of the year coming back from injury and looked hittable early on before getting stronger as his outing progressed. At the very least, the bats should have made him work harder and generated some chances. While nobody expects this offense to be good, there’s been far too many nights this season where they’ve resembled a corpse.
Going into the game, the story was Payton Tolle, and specifically if he could back up his outing against the Yankees from last time out. The answer to that was a resounding “no,” as unlike Yesavage, he got worse as his outing progressed. Tolle lasted just 4.2 innings and walked four on his way to giving up three hits and three runs.
He also looked like a guy running out of gas, which is notable because he lasted just 68 pitches, had his velocity dipping before Chad Tracy yanked him mid inning, and mentioned that he needed to be quote “better about my recovery, and get better sleep” in the postgame show. Unfortunately, there was no follow up question, because I’d love to know specifically what he was talking about there.
Willson Contreras: His first inning double was the only extra base hit of the night. Normally a 1-4 effort won’t land you here, but the pickings are slim.
Marcelo Mayer: He went 1-3 at the plate, but that single extended his hitting streak to seven games, and he’s batting .391 over that stretch.
Ryan Watson: Mopped up the last five outs of the game and prevented any other relievers from being used after him. This puts the Red Sox in better position going into the rubber game of the series tomorrow.
Jarren Duran: 0-4 from the top of the lineup. He’s now batting .172 with a .487 OPS.
Carlos Narvaez: 0-3 with a strike out, and two of the fruitless at bats came with a man on base.
Payton Tolle: Unfortunately, he has to end up here given the short nature of his outing and the large step back he took from the Yankee game.
Here’s something crazy: I think you can make a solid argument that the best play of the game for both teams may have actually been the same play. (I can’t ever remember thinking that in a game before.) For the Blue Jays, the reasons it’s Kazuma Okamoto’s two-run single are obvious. But for the Red Sox, Roman Anthony made a beautiful throw and nailed a runner at second base on a ball hit over his head. Given what’s been happening with some of his throws this year, this is no small thing, and on a night where literally everything else was underwhelming and forgettable, Anthony’s arm looking like it did a year ago should give fans a reason to smile.
