News
Jays get to Beckett, but fall to Red Sox
Club lets pair of leads get away in opening loss at Fenway
By John Barone / MLB.com
08/29/09 1:30 AM ET
BOSTON -- For the second time in less than two weeks, the Blue Jays teed off on Josh Beckett. And for the second time in less than two weeks, it wasn't enough to crack the win column.Toronto could not hold a pair of multirun leads on Friday night at Fenway Park, falling to the Red Sox, 6-5.
Aaron Hill hit his team-leading 31st home run of the season and Rod Barajas also went deep for the Jays (58-68), who loaded the bases against Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon in the top of the ninth inning but could not push across the equalizer.
Following the departure of Beckett, who allowed five runs while striking out nine over five frames, Toronto came up empty against winner Hideki Okajima (5-0) and the rest of the Red Sox's airtight relief corps.
Boston pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts, one shy of a Blue Jays record in a nine-inning game.
"We had a lot of opportunities tonight," manager Cito Gaston said. "But we had a great chance in that last inning. A base hit would probably have broke it open and given us a chance to win the ballgame."
Early on, the Jays were on their way to doing just that.
Ten days after tagging the Red Sox's ace for seven runs in 5 1/3 innings at Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays picked up right where they left off against Beckett in the top of the second. Following two-out walks to Jose Bautista and Marco Scutaro, Hill smashed a hanging curveball from the Boston righty over the Green Monster for a three-run home run.
So why does Toronto seem to have Beckett's number?
"That's a good question," Travis Snider said. "I don't think he had his best stuff tonight. Obviously, he wasn't throwing pitches where he would've liked to, and he walked more guys than I think he's used to. We took advantage of certain situations.
"But at the end of the day, we're down by one run and we lose the game."
A scary moment occurred with one out into the fourth, when a Beckett fastball sailed up and in on Scutaro before hitting him in the head. The shortstop, diagnosed with a contusion, was removed from the game and replaced by John McDonald.
Scutaro downplayed the severity of the injury late Friday night, but he stopped short of proclaiming himself available for Saturday's contest.
"I'm fine," Scutaro said. "I'll see how I feel in the morning."
After cruising through the first three innings -- during which he allowed just two hits -- Scott Richmond surrendered Toronto's 3-0 lead in the fourth, yielding an RBI single to J.D. Drew and a sacrifice fly to Jason Varitek before Jacoby Ellsbury tied the game with an RBI ground-rule double to center.
The Blue Jays regained the lead in the top of the fifth thanks to Barajas, who pummeled a fastball from Beckett over the Monster for a two-run shot.
Jason Bay responded in the bottom of the frame with a well-struck two-run blast of his own over the towering green wall, knotting the score at 5.
"I just hung a slider right down the middle," said Richmond, who allowed nine hits and struck out six over five innings of five-run ball. "That's what home run hitters do. They make you pay for your mistakes."
Toronto nearly plated the go-ahead run just before a 49-minute rain delay halted play in the top of the eighth, as Bay threw out Snider at home plate after McDonald drilled a line-drive double into the left-field corner off Daniel Bard.
Snider, a 21-year-old with all of 66 career Major League games under his belt, lamented his decision to slide around Varitek.
"Lesson learned," Snider said. "I went for the hook slide, and at the last second, his foot came out and kicked my foot out from the going to the plate. It was a good move by him, and something I'll definitely put in the memory bank and learn from. I needed to go hard and go in straight, instead of trying to go around."
Shortly after the game resumed, Boston (74-54) loaded the bases in the eighth against Toronto relievers Brian Tallet (5-8) and Shawn Camp, the latter of whom allowed an RBI fielder's-choice grounder to Casey Kotchman that gave the Red Sox a 6-5 edge.
One-out singles by Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells, coupled with a Randy Ruiz hit-by-pitch, packed the sacks for the Blue Jays in the ninth, but Papelbon fanned Barajas and Snider in succession for his 31st save.
"That's just the way it goes sometimes," Snider said. "The good thing is, we have another one tomorrow."
John Barone is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
