On an afternoon when Eduardo Rodriguez limited the Blue Jays to four hits, but all of them were home runs, the story became Jays starter Marco Estrada.
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The Red Sox haven’t been held hitless at Fenway Park since Detroit’s Jim Bunning did it on July 20, 1958. Estrada would lose the no hitter when Chris Young came to the plate and hit a solo home run to the Monster.
Toronto’s win was powered by home runs by Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Darwin Barney and Russell Martin, all over the Green Monster in left field. Young followed with a hard single to left field on a first pitch heater, which placed runners on first and second for pinch-hitter Marco Hernandez. He seemed to only be leaning on his fastball and the Jays pitchers were waiting for it. Rodriguez’s pitching line for the night was 99 pitches, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 BB and 0 Ks.
Following a strikeout by third baseman Travis Shaw, scuffling first baseman Hanley Ramirez emerged from his recent slump by hammering an RBI double deep into center, slicing the Red Sox deficit to just 5-3. His other two home runs allowed came on fastballs during a day that saw the 23-year-old struggle a bit with command – and pay the full price.
– Farrell hinted before Sunday’s game that David Ortiz, who has dealing with nagging foot problems, could sit out both of Boston’s upcoming games against the Giants with the team forgoing the designated hitter spot.
Boston’s pitchers have allowed 13 homers in the last four games even though they didn’t give up any on Saturday.
Dave Stieb pitched the first and only no-hitter in Blue Jays history against the Cleveland Indians on September 2, 1990, but Estrada does have experience flirting with no-hitters.
Estrada’s outing looked like it would be a short one early in the game, as he walked the first two batters that he faced.
ERod started the game off with a bang when he gave up a solo home run to Bautista. The ball hit the top of the Green Monster and bounced back on to the field, but the hit was ruled a homer, his 12th of the season and second lead-off home run.
3B Josh Donaldson was out of the Blue Jays’ lineup on Saturday because of a jammed right thumb. Toronto recalled INF Matt Dominguez from Triple-A Buffalo and optioned RHP Ryan Tepera to Buffalo.
Estrada has now posted eight consecutive starts allowing five or fewer hits, something he did last season as well.
Estrada (4-2) walked three, struck out five and was lifted with a 5-1 lead after giving up his second hit, Dustin Pedroia’s leadoff double in the ninth.
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The Sox will have Monday off before embarking on a unusual road trip next week, as they will travel to San Francisco for a rare two-game Interleague set.
