Not all World Series champions have a good season following their success, and the Boston Red Sox fall into that category, as their 2014 campaign seemingly hit another new low with a 14-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, led by Melky Cabrera and Ryan Goins, combining for 9 RBIs in a devastating hitting performance.
The Blue Jays started the series in Fenway Park the same way they ended the previous one in Boston. It hasn’t been close to be honest. They’ve won the four games by 23 runs, hitting 10 home runs with Melky Cabrera and Edwin Encarnacion hitting four each. Red Sox starting pitchers have posted an ERA of 10.35 during these games, compared to a 2.92 by Blue Jays pitchers.
Things started out bad for the Red Sox in the first inning, giving up a two-run homer to Cabrera, and things got worse in the fourth as Goins’ single turned into a double RBI hit. However, the real devastation came in the sixth inning, with the Blue Jays scoring nine runs. Clay Buchholz was taken off the mound, but things didn’t go much better for Felxi Doubront who gave up six hits as he attempted to make two outs, not even finishing the inning.
The Blue Jays got a scorching start from R.A. Dickey, striking out 10 batters in seven innings as the Red Sox finished with only 5-for-32 at the plate. The Blue Jays could do no wrong with their hitting, finishing with 14-for-37, as Cabrera had five RBIs on his two home runs and Goins connected four times in five plate appearances, finishing with four RBIs. Jose Bautista, Munenori Kawasaki and Josh Thole also finished the game with multiple hits, as Blue Jays players also got to walk eight times during the game.
Buccholaz finished with seven allowed hits in the five innings he managed, including seven earned runs and four walks, his ERA falling to 5.87 and his record to 5-7 this season. Doubront did just as bad in a shorter amount of time, which probably hurt his chances of playing in the future, just like his recent ability has done. Edward Mujica who came on to play in the ninth inning was the only one of the Red Sox pitchers who didn’t give up a hit or a walk.
The Red Sox continue to fall deeper and deeper into the AL East cellar, now 11 games behind the Orioles, and closer to trading Jon Lester and giving up on this season completely. Maybe certain rivalries and nights of emotions bring out the best of these players, but it happens too rarely this season, surrounded by disappointing performances like this one, as any hopes of getting a Wild Card spot are slowly escaping out the window.
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