Raimel Tapia had three hits and four RBIs to guide the Toronto Blue Jays to an 8-4 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
The Blue Jays easily swept this three-game series against the Red Sox, and Tapia drove in 10 total runs.
Two days after Tapia scored an infield grand slam in a historic 28-5 Blue Jays win, he hit a three-run triple to give Toronto a 5-0 lead in the first set. .
Prospect Brayan Bello (0-2) was roughed up, one of five Red Sox players to start the campaign in the minors.
The Blue Jays also took advantage of three errors from the Red Sox, who are now only half a game from last place in the American East Division.
“Defensively, we’ve taken a step back over the past 14 days,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. We were very good defensively earlier this season. Seems like right now the game is going too fast and it looks awful. »
The Boston team suffered a fifth straight loss and a 13e in his last 16 outings. She was 11 games above the .500 mark on June 27, but is now 48-48.
“We play terrible baseball,” Cora said. We don’t catch the ball, we don’t have good plate presences, we don’t throw strikes. It is very bad. We are talented and we can turn the tide and it starts tomorrow. »
Reliever Tim Mayza (4-0) forced a double play in the seventh inning and inherited the win for the Blue Jays. Starter Ross Stripling allowed two runs in four innings of work before reliever Trevor Richards allowed the other two.
The Red Sox were to do without star players JD Martinez and Rafael Devers as well as Trevor Story, their big offseason acquisition. The last five batters in the order had no more than .220 batting average.
Bello gave up five runs, nine hits and two walks in four innings on the mound. He is yet to pitch in the fifth inning after three starts in the Majors.
“The ball was going in their favor today,” Bello said. I just have to keep working, keep learning and be ready for my next start. »
The Blue Jays filled the trails in the first inning after two soft hits, one of which hit third base, and a walk. Cavan Biggio then slammed a two-run single. Tapia made it 5-0.
The visitors added three runs in the fifth inning. Hirokazu Sawamura walked Teoscar Hernández after putting his fingers to his mouth on the 2-1 score. The reliever had already been cautioned and the Blue Jays batter received two automatic balls.
Hernández crossed home plate when Tapia singled and the Blue Jays scored another run when Red Sox third baseman Jeter Downs fired the ball into the back of the runner heading for the plate. A final point was scored following a blunder by Sawamura at first base.
Absentees in Toronto
Unvaccinated against COVID-19, star players Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado will not face the Blue Jays in Toronto on Tuesday and Wednesday during a brief visit from the St. Louis Cardinals.
First baseman Goldschmidt leads the team in batting average (.333), home runs (22) and RBIs (74). He is second in Major League Baseball in average and third in RBIs.
Arenado is also very productive with 18 long balls and 59 RBIs, as well as an average of .299.
For the same reason, the Kansas City Royals had to leave 10 players in the United States earlier this month.