Red Sox reactions: Aroldis Chapman’s rare hiccup leads to loss, sweep after comeback attempt
· Yahoo Sports
BOSTON — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (29-43) fight back from a three-run deficit but still lose, as Aroldis Chapman gives up the game-winning run in the ninth inning of a 4-3 Blue Jays victory:
1) The Red Sox found a new way to lose Thursday, with usually steady Chapman involved in the result. Boston fought back from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the eighth but the Blue Jays drew blood against Chapman and scored on a Brandon Valenzuela RBI double that made it 4-3 for good.
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It wasn’t all Chapman’s fault. After Ernie Clement led off the ninth with an infield single that dribbled down the third base line, Chapman got two quick outs and looked to have a third when Valenzuela lifted a high pop-up in foul territory. On a windy day at Fenway, it was just out of the reach of Connor Wong. Wong’s failure to catch the ball extended Valenzuela’s at-bat and the catcher hit the ninth pitch he saw off the Green Monster to put the Jays back ahead.
The Red Sox are now 0-31 when trailing by three runs at any point. They are 1-37 in games in which they’ve trailed after eight innings.
2) Boston finished an atrocious series having scored just four runs in 27 innings against Toronto, which won all three games. The Sox are now 12-25 at home, 4-10 in June and 6-17 against the American League East. The Red Sox have been swept at home three times so far. A homestand that started with some promise (wins Friday and Saturday over Texas) ended with four straight losses that dropped Boston to 14 games under .500.
3) In customary fashion, the Red Sox saw just six pitches against lefty Mason Fluharty in the ninth. Wilyer Abreu, Willson Contreras and Jarren Duran went down in quick order despite elite Toronto closer Louis Varland not being available. It felt like once Toronto scored, there was no chance of a second comeback.
4) Before Toronto took the lead for good, the Red Sox got back in the game in very unlikely fashion. Trailing 3-1 against a dominant Trey Yesavage, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Caleb Durbin led off the bottom of the eighth inning with back-to-back homers that cleared the Green Monster. Suddenly, the Red Sox had erased a 3-0 deficit and tied it.
Kiner-Falefa’s second homer of the year came on the first pitch of the eighth inning. Durbin’s blast, which came two pitches later on a fastball that caught much of the plate, was his first homer at Fenway — and fourth of the year.
5) Drawing even was made possible by one of the most impressive defensive plays of the season so far. As Toronto threatened to make it 4-1 on a Yohendrick Piñango double in the top of the eighth, Ceddanne Rafaela craftily corralled the ball off the Green Monster and threw all the way home, where the catcher, Wong, made a diving effort to tag out George Springer, who was trying to score all the way from first. Nabbing Springer required a high-level throw and a high-level tag and the Red Sox got both.
Keeping the Jays at three runs proved important seconds later when Kiner-Falefa and Durbin homered to make it 3-3. It felt like the Red Sox had stolen some momentum at that point.
6) It was something of a miracle that the Red Sox were even in the game in the ninth considering how good Yesavage looked early. The righty looked like he had no-hit potential against a sleepy Red Sox offense that seemed like it wanted a bad homestand to be over. Instead of a quiet loss that extended a losing streak to four games — including another home sweep at the hands of a division opponent — the Red Sox showed some fight in desperate times. Still, a loss is a loss.
7) Unlike the first two games of the series, in which the Red Sox had plenty of chances (1-for-24 with men in scoring position and 26 left on base), Boston’s offense was mowed down early. The Blue Jays built an early lead for Yesavage, who made quick work of the Sox until late in his outing. Yesavage retired 18 of the first 19 hitters he faced and allowed just two hits through his first seven innings. The trouble began in the eighth.
8) Chapman took the loss for the second time all season. The run he allowed broke a 17-outing scoreless streak dating back to April 4, when he took the loss against San Diego.He allowed multiple hits for the third time all year.
9) Righty Sonny Gray extended his streak of quality starts to four by going seven innings and allowing three runs on six hits. Gray struck out four in what was a strong outing that felt much worse than the line would suggest.
The damage against Gray came via the long ball as Vlad Guerrero Jr. (first inning) and Nathan Lukes (seventh) each hit solo homers on a day when the wind was blowing out at Fenway. Toronto also scored in the second when Kazuma Okamoto hit a one-out double then came in on an Andres Giménez sacrifice fly.
10) The one early scoring chance for the Red Sox came and went quickly in the fourth. Leadoff man Mickey Gasper doubled to start the inning and took third on a well-placed Rafaela sacrifice bunt down the third base line. Gasper didn’t score on an Abreu fly ball to center, then Contreras chased a pitch to strike out and end the inning. That was the only action of the day from the batter’s box.
Boston did capitalize on a Rafaela leadoff double in the seventh. Abreu moved him to third on a fly ball to right, then Contreras plated a run on a grounder to shortstop.
11)Gray’s season has gone underappreciated. Through 13 starts (69 ⅓ innings), the veteran owns a 3.12 ERA while striking out 55 batters and walking just 17. He has given the Sox at least six innings in eight of those outings. Thursday’s loss dropped Boston to 9-4 in games he has started.
Gray could have a case to be an All-Star. At the very least, he’s an attractive trade chip for contenders looking for rotation reinforcements.
12) The series was the kind of faceplant that has historically brought big, reactionary organizational changes in Boston. You have to wonder if the temperature of Craig Breslow’s seat went up a few degrees over the last three days. An early trade at this juncture could be in play, too.
It feels like rock-bottom for the 2026 Red Sox.
13) The Sox will face a quick turnaround as they hit the road and try to get things back on track. They will take a cross-country flight to Seattle late Thursday ahead of a six-game road trip that begins Friday at T-Mobile Park.
Here’s the schedule (with pitching probables) for the next series:
Friday, 10:10 p.m. ET — LHP Ranger Suarez (2-3, 3.21 ERA) vs. RHP Bryce Miller (3-0, 1.54 ERA)
Saturday, 10:10 p.m. ET — LHP Connell Yearly (5-5, 3.81 ERA) vs. RHP Emerson Hancock (5-3, 3.28 ERA)
Sunday, 4:10 p.m. ET — LHP Payton Tolle (3-4, 2.93 ERA) vs. RHP Logan Gilbert (5-4, 3.43 ERA)
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