The Blue Jays squandered a perfect opportunity to gain ground in the postseason race when a late rally by the Red Sox sent them to a 9-8 loss Saturday night at Fenway Park.
The Jays had a one-run lead in the ninth, but Xander Bogaerts homered off Anthony Bass to tie it. Christian Vázquez, who stole second and reached third on a throwing error by catcher Caleb Joseph, scored the winning run when Travis Shaw’s throw home on a Yairo Muñoz ground ball pulled Joseph off to the right of the plate.
It was a crushing loss, punctuated even more by the missed chance to move up in the standings.
The Yankees and Rays both lost, which would have allowed the Jays, had they won, to take over sole possession of second place in the American League East. Instead, they’re in the same spot as they were at the beginning of the day -- tied for second, 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Rays.
“This hasn’t been the first tough loss we had this year,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “It's been a grind. Early on, we lost a lot of games because we didn't play well, and every game has been by one run. Every loss has been tough, and every win has been good. They’re all by one.”
The same issues that have been a sticking point for the Jays -- defensive lapses and poor baserunning decisions -- were again a factor in this game, but the offense, at least for a few innings, masked most shortcomings.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a three-run homer in the sixth, and the Blue Jays pushed three more runs across in a seventh inning in which seven hitters reached base.
Teoscar Hernández, who is having a breakout season, stood out again. The right fielder ended a 15-game hitting streak the night before, but he picked it right back up in his first at-bat in this game, blistering an 88 mph sinker from Ryan Weber and sending it 442 feet over the wall in straightaway center. He also logged a key base hit in the seventh that tied the game.
Hernández’s home run was No. 14 for the season, which (briefly) pushed him into a tie for the AL lead. Angels slugger Mike Trout passed Hernandez a little later in the evening, however, with his 15th homer of the season and 300th of his career.
Hernández clearly enjoys hitting at Fenway Park. He has 11 homers in 28 career games in Boston, accounting for nearly 15 percent of the 74 long balls he’s recorded in his five-year career.
“I do know for sure that he hits Boston pretty good, so that's why he's not going to get a day off against Boston,” Montoyo said. “We already talked about it. This year, he’s been pretty good against almost everybody. His approach at the plate’s been outstanding. That’s been the key. Not chasing many bad pitches and getting good pitches to hit, and driving them out of the ballpark.”
Hernández’s defense was as impressive as what he did at the plate. Most notably, he nailed Michael Chavis at third base with a pinpoint throw after fielding a base hit by Bobby Dalbec that had trickled into shallow right.
“That throw kept us in the game,” Montoyo said. “I thought he had no chance, and he made a perfect throw. That was a great play. That's what we want him to be -- aggressive in the outfield.”
Better baserunning by his own teammates, however, may have made the difference between a win and a loss. The Jays were down by four in the fifth when Jonathan Villar was thrown out at second after sending a long fly ball base hit off the Green Monster in left center. Rowdy Tellez was thrown out trying to advance first to third on Hernández’s single in the seventh.
“Neither one was good,” Montoyo said. “The Villar one, the play’s in front of him, so he can always stop. The Rowdy one was just not good, either. There was great baserunning in the game, but those two were not.”
The Blue Jays do not play the Rays again this year, but they do have 10 games with the Yankees over the next 2 1/2 weeks. There’s still time left on the proverbial clock. But this one had to sting.
“Today was a tough one,” Montoyo said. “We'll come back tomorrow and regroup. We've done it before. I don't see why not tomorrow.”