Red Sox reactions: Boston’s third straight loss includes bizarre play, 15-minute ‘rules check

TORONTO — Instant reactions to the Red Sox (64-54) losing their third straight game Monday, a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays that included one of the more bizarre sequences you’ll ever see on a baseball field:

1) The Red Sox, after dropping two games to the Athletics over the weekend at home, have lost three in a row for the first time since June 16-18, when the Blue Jays swept them at Fenway Park. Boston has scored just seven runs in its last 27 innings following a 25-run outburst in a two-game span Thursday and Friday.

Boston won nine series in a row before the weekend set against the A’s. With one more loss in Toronto, the best they’ll be able to do is split a four-game set north of the border.

2) A bizarre — and confounding — sequence played out in the seventh inning as Toronto led, 2-0. With two men on and no outs, Nick Sogard hit a sharp ball to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that Guerrero fielded on a hop, then threw to second. That means there was one out recorded — not a double play.

The league-controlled video board (and a press box announcement) said there were two outs... but Sogard stayed on first as Anthony Seigler took third. One pitch later, Ceddanne Rafaela hit a fly ball to center and both runners — thinking there were two outs — were off on contact. Sogard was picked off for an inning-ending double play.

A long conversation between umpires, then with managers Chad Tracy and John Schneider, ensued. After a delay of more than 15 minutes, it was ruled that Seigler scored via the “apparent fourth out” rule, a rare, complex ruling that punished Toronto for not appealing before its infielders vacated the playing field.

The sequence brought Boston within a run — and was truly unlike anything you’ll ever see again . The official scoring on it? A sacrifice fly and RBI prior to an 8-4-3 double play.

You can read a full explanation of the situation, including comments from Guccione, here .

3) On paper, it looked like a get-right spot for a Boston offense that had been a little sleepy over the weekend against the A’s. That didn’t prove to be the case in a game in which the Sox had just one extra-base hit, stranded nine on base and finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Veteran Jameson Taillon entered with a 5.96 ERA — and an 8.65 mark in his last eight starts between the Cubs and Jays — but gave up just one hit in four shutout innings before leaving due to forearm discomfort. Simeon Woods Richardson — owning a 6.40 ERA in 15 MLB games this year — then entered and cruised, with the controversial run serving as his only blemish in three innings. From there, Toronto turned to key relievers Tyler Rogers and Louis Varland and survived with a one-run advantage.

4) Boston had real scoring chances in each of the last two innings. The first chance to tie came in the eighth when Masataka Yoshida worked a two-out walk and pinch-runner Eli White stole second to put the tying run in scoring position but Tyler Rogers struck out Caleb Durbin to end the inning.

The ninth inning was even more dramatic. A slumping Jarren Duran smoked a leadoff double (the only Sox extra-base hit all night) off Varland, then took third on a Seigler sacrifice bunt. Varland then showed why he was an All-Star this year by striking out pinch-hitter Andruw Monasterio and getting Sogard to ground out on a 3-2 count to end the game in front of a sellout crowd of 42,511.

A silver lining? The Red Sox took each of the last three losses down to the very final out.

5) Sonny Gray entered with a 6.00 ERA in two starts against Toronto this year after allowing five earned runs on 10 hits in a rough five-inning outing on July 25 at Fenway . Facing a depleted lineup this time around, he was much better — but still took the loss to fall to 14-3 on the year.

Gray lasted six innings and allowed a respectable two runs on six hits. Run support proved to be the issue.

Toronto scored its runs in very different ways. In the fifth, rookie Charles McAdoo smoked a solo, opposite-field homer to open the scoring. One inning later, George Springer singled then stole second before racing around to score on an Andrés Giménez single to right. Third base coach Carlos Febles aggressively sent Springer home and great throw by Wilyer Abreu got away from Connor Wong at the plate.

6) Duran looked to be turning a corner offensively when he homered for the third time in five games early in Friday night’s rout. He then entered at 1-for-19 with five strikeouts before leading off the ninth with a double.

That shot went 100.2 mph off the bat. Duran also had the hardest-hit ball of the entire game, a 110.3 mph groundout in the second inning.

7) Duran isn’t the only key member of Boston’s offense in a rut. Contreras went 0-for-3 with a walk and is now in a 4-for-22 slump. Wong was 1-for-3 and is in a 3-for-25 spell.

The Sox did have five walks in the loss, including two from Yoshida.

8) An eventful night for Wong included a scary moment in the bottom of the seventh when he made a diving catch on a foul bunt off the bat of Nathan Lukes and appeared to be dazed when he got up. It’s unclear if Wong hit his head, but he stayed in the game.

Earlier, Wong won three ABS challenges and allowed two stolen bases, including one that proved costly.

9) Tuesday night will bring a challenge for the Red Sox in the form of All-Star Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.28 ERA), who threw a one-hitter at Fenway the last time he faced Boston on July 25. The Red Sox will counter with lefty Patrick Sandoval (1-0, 3.38 ERA) — and Adley Rutschman is expected to make his club debut eight days after coming over in a big trade with Baltimore .

First pitch is at 7:07 p.m. ET.

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Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Yahoo Sports. Open at source →