The Red Sox roughed up Blue Jays’ starter Max Scherzer in the first inning, scoring three runs on five hits.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Toronto Blue Jays fans are suddenly wringing their hands.
Toronto’s grip on the top spot in the American League East weakened Wednesday with a second straight loss to the Boston Red Sox during a crucial final homestand.
It was a bleak night for the Jays, who got a rough first inning from Max Scherzer, were dominated by Boston ace Garrett Crochet, and saw star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ejected – all during a costly 7-1 loss.
The defeat puts Toronto’s hold atop the AL East in jeopardy with just four games left in the regular season. The Jays now share the lead with the New York Yankees, who have gained two games in as many days with wins over the Chicago White Sox. The Jays and Yankees are both 90-68, but Toronto holds the series tiebreaker between the two.
Toronto has led the AL East for some three months, looking to win the division for the first time since 2015. Now in the final few days of the regular season, that hold looks precarious.
While the Jays are losing to playoff-minded Boston, the Yankees are surging against a Chicago team already out of the mix.
Toronto has already clinched a postseason spot, but the all-important bye through the first round is still up for grabs.
The dream season suddenly seems to be spiraling. The Jays have lost six of their last seven games and been held to one or zero runs in all of those. The Yankees have won seven of their last eight.
The Red Sox (87-71) hold the American League’s second wild-card berth and are trying to remain ahead of the Detroit Tigers.
The visitors roughed up Scherzer in the first inning, scoring three runs on five hits. The full crowd inside Toronto’s Rogers Centre sat silent and concerned.
The inning was eerily reminiscent of Scherzer’s previous outing last Friday – his worst of the season – when the 41-year-old gave up seven earned runs on seven hits in Kansas City and lasted just 2/3 of an inning.
But this time, Scherzer settled in after Wednesday’s tough opening inning and held Boston scoreless for the next three innings before they scored again. He scattered 10 hits over five innings, allowing four earned runs, while striking out five.
It was Masataka Yoshida – whose RBI double in the first inning got the scoring started for Boston – who struck again in the fifth, smoking a Scherzer fastball over the right field wall for that fourth run.
They’d score a trio more in the eighth inning to make it a drubbing, via a three-run homer by Carlos Narvaez.
It was far too much for Toronto to overcome, especially while facing Crochet, the MLB’s strikeout leader and a likely contender for the AL Cy Young award. Boston’s veteran left hander, who is now 14-1 in his last 20 starts, allowed just three hits in eight shutout innings, while striking out six.
“Tough pill to swallow. When you go up against somebody like [Crochet], you got to match him,” said Scherzer. “I knew tonight was going to be a tough matchup. Runs would be a premium, and unfortunately, they scored too many there in the first.”
The Jays’ lone run – off a solo shot from Isiah Kiner-Falefa – came off reliever Payton Tolle.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is ejected from the game after being called out on strikes.Mark Blinch/Getty Images
Toronto’s star Guerrero Jr. was ejected in the seventh inning by home plate umpire Gabe Morales for arguing after he was called out on strikes. Jays hitting coach David Popkins was thrown out complaining too. Schneider tried to get ejected too.
“It had nothing to do with frustration,” Guerrero insisted afterward. “I thought it was a ball, and I told him it was a ball.”
Add that with some controversial calls in Tuesday’s loss – like George Springer’s two-run line drive down the third base line that was called foul – and it has some fans complaining on social media that the umpires have it in for Toronto. Manager John Schneider doesn’t want to feed that narrative.
“First and foremost, we’re not losing because of umpires,” said Schneider. “Let’s get that out of there. We’re losing because we’re not scoring enough runs.”
While it might feel like the sky is falling, he said, it’s not.
Anthony Santander made his long-awaited return to the Blue Jays lineup on Wednesday, hitting fifth and acting as the designated hitter. He struck out twice in his three at-bats.
The Jays activated the hard slugging outfielder from the 60-day injured list on Tuesday, the team’s prize free agent signing of last winter. It was Santander’s first game since May 29, and he now aims to put a strong finish on a season he’s spent mostly sidelined due to a shoulder injury.
Toronto will close out this series with Red Sox on Thursday before the Rays come to town on Friday for the final three games of the regular season.
The Jays have pushed Shane Bieber’s start to Friday. They announced late Wednesday night that they will send righty Louis Varland out to the mound on Thursday.