BOSTON -- On Trade Deadline eve, the 13-1 loss the Red Sox suffered against the Blue Jays on Thursday night at Fenway Park was quickly cushioned when chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom finalized a trade shortly after the game.

Boston got left-handed slugger Kyle Schwarber, who had a power surge for the ages in June, from the Nats for Minor League righty Aldo Ramirez.

Bloom nicely countered the Yankees' pickup a few hours earlier of Anthony Rizzo from the Cubs.

Things went much better off the field for the Sox on Thursday than on it.

Eduardo Rodriguez turned in a sluggish first inning en route to a sluggish night as the Sox had to settle for a split of their four-game series with the Blue Jays on getaway night.

The Sox now head to Tropicana Field for a first-place showdown with the Tampa Bay Rays, who are just 1 1/2 games behind Boston in the American League East.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez took a step back in his wildly inconsistent season. What was the issue on Thursday?

"Command," Rodriguez said. "I think overall, with all my pitches, that was the whole problem today. A lot of walks, a lot of base hits. That's what I think was kind of the problem today, a little bit. I would say the only pitch I was able to use most of the time today was the fastball -- and I wasn't able to locate it."

Rodriguez made some progress before the All-Star break and had a stellar start in his first outing after it at Yankee Stadium.

In a five-start stretch from June 22-July 16, Rodriguez had a 2.83 ERA while holding opponents to a .220 average and a .609 OPS.

However, in a home start against the Yankees last Friday, Rodriguez had to come out after two innings due to a migraine. That could have contributed to him being out of rhythm on Thursday.

"I don't know," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "Obviously the last one, the migraine, and today didn't go as planned. But before that, he's been good. He's pitched well against the Yankees. I think the stuff has been there, he's been getting people out, he's been going deep in the games."

Projected to be the ace of the Red Sox coming into the season, Rodriguez is 7-6 with a 5.60 ERA.

With Blue Jays ace Hyun Jin Ryu at his best over six shutout innings (two hits, no walks, five strikeouts), the Red Sox didn't stand much of a chance in one of their most lopsided defeats of the season.

But a lopsided defeat was easy to shake off with a new slugger suddenly in tow.