The Red Sox (28-26, 15-12 away) had a chance to sweep the Blue Jays (28-26, 16-12 home) but Bard (5-6) never gave them a chance as they lost 5-1 at Rogers Centre. Boston enjoyed exactly one day in fourth place, now they are back in the AL East basement tied with Toronto.
Bard lasted 1.2 innings (55 pitches/24 strikes), allowing five earned runs on one hit with two strikeouts and six walks. He also hit two batters. To say he didn't have control would do a great disservice to Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn in Major League and Rick Ankiel. It got to the point where you felt bad for the Blue Jays hitters that had to step in against him since he throws so hard but he had absolutely no clue where it would end up. Yunel Escobar was hit on the hand and Edwin Encarnacion was hit on the wrist and ended up leaving later in the game.
Of course, the one hit Bard allowed was a three-run bomb by Jose Bautista (14th of the season) in the first inning. I've said all along that moving Bard to the rotation was pointless but still, I never wished this on him. He went from being one of the top setup men in MLB and top young arms to a complete mess as a fifth starter in a mediocre rotation on an average team. Don't ask me how to fix this huge problem since I don't have a clue. His confidence must be completely shot.
The Blue Jays added two runs in the second on Bautista's bases loaded walk and Encarnacion's painful hit by pitch.
Kelly Shoppach (3rd of the season) provided the only Red Sox run with a solo home run in the fifth inning.
Boston played like a team in the last game of a series on the road (aka getaway day), with tomorrow off. Although no excuse since it was only a three-game road trip. They managed just six hits against rookie Drew Hutchison (5-2) and a trio of Toronto relievers. Hutchison went seven easy innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts and a walk.
Franklin Morales went an absurd 4.1 innings, he was the first reliever out of Boston's bullpen and he submitted his longest relief work in his MLB career. He didn't allow a run with only two hits and four strikeouts. Morales as a starter? Haha just kidding but he was awesome.
Fenway Park will have a distinct DC-Metro area feel this week as Baltimore comes for three games beginning on Tuesday then the Washington Nationals restart Interleague play with a visit next weekend for three.
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