After an off day on Monday and a series victory over the Rangers, the Red Sox returned to Fenway Park to open a three-game set against the division-rival Blue Jays.
Boston battled one of baseball’s premier pitchers in Dylan Cease, forcing the Toronto ace to work through five innings, but the effort wasn’t enough. The Blue Jays rode three home runs to a 6-1 victory Tuesday night.
The loss dropped the Red Sox to 29-41 on the season and 12-23 at Fenway Park. Boston also fell to 9-15 in series openers and 9-30 when its opponent scores first, leaving the club 12 games under .500 and 14 games behind the first-place Yankees in the American League East.
Cease, making just his second start since returning from the injured list with a hamstring strain, ran into immediate trouble but found a way to escape unscathed.
The Red Sox loaded the bases with one out in the first inning after Ceddanne Rafaela singled, Wilyer Abreu walked, and Jarren Duran reached on a broken-bat blooper that Cease was unable to corral behind the mound. With a prime scoring opportunity, Caleb Durbin stepped to the plate but lifted a shallow fly ball to center field, ending the threat.
Although Boston failed to capitalize, it forced Cease to labor through the early innings. The right-hander threw 25 pitches in the first, 24 in the second, and 19 pitches in both the third and fourth innings. Entering the fifth already at 87 pitches, it appeared his night might be nearing an end.
Instead, Cease dug deep and completed five scoreless innings, allowing four hits while walking four and striking out seven. He finished his outing having thrown 108 pitches in an impressive display of resilience.
The outing continued Cease’s dominance at Fenway Park. In four career starts at the historic ballpark, he now owns a sparkling 1.25 ERA with 32 strikeouts.
The Red Sox went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight baserunners over the first five innings, wasting multiple opportunities to put pressure on Toronto early.
Payton Tolle was good, but not good enough, coming away on the losing end against the Blue Jays.
The rookie left-hander battled through five innings, allowing three runs on four hits while walking two and striking out six. He needed 22 pitches to navigate a scoreless first inning and worked around traffic early before Toronto finally broke through in the third.
A lengthy 14-pitch at-bat against Myles Straw proved costly. Although Tolle ultimately retired Straw on a flyout to right field, the out advanced Andrés Giménez, who had reached on a leadoff double after replay overturned an initial out call at second base to third. George Springer followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead.
Toronto added to its advantage in the fifth when Davis Schneider and Giménez launched back-to-back solo home runs, marking the first time this season the Blue Jays had hit consecutive homers in a game. Tolle completed the inning and exited having allowed three earned runs in another encouraging performance despite being saddled with his second loss to Toronto this year.
Schneider wasn’t finished making an impact. Facing Tommy Kahnle in the sixth, the Blue Jays put runners on the corners before Schneider drove a ball off the Green Monster for an RBI double, extending Toronto’s lead to 4-0.
The Red Sox offense continued to
