Dustin McGowan threw a complete game and Frank Thomas hit three home runs to lead the Toronto Blue Jays over the Red Sox 6-1 at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Monday night. McGowan scattered 5 hits and struck out 9 while allowing just the 1 run.The loss drops the lead in the AL East to 4 games depending on the outcome of the Yankees game tonight.
The story of the night though was Thomas. Thomas hit two of his homers off of Wakefield and one off of Kyle Synder. The last time the Big Hurt hit three homers in a game was back in 1996 against the Red Sox and the pitcher was Wakefield.
The Big Hurt got the first of his three homers in the 1st inning. Wake issued Vernon Wells a walk and then got Matt Stairs to fly out. With Alex Rios at the plate, Wells stole second and went to third when Rios grounded out to Dustin Pedroia at second. He came around to score when Thomas crushed a high knuckler into the seats for a 2-0 Jays lead. Aaron Hill followed that up with a single and stole second with Gregg Zaun at-bat. Zaun ended up grounding back to Wake to end the inning.
McGowan was cruising as he set down the first nine Red Sox batters he faced. Jacoby Ellsbury finally broke through off of McGowan as he led off the 4th with a single. Pedroia grounded out to second but with Ellsbury’s speed, Hill could only go to first. McGowan got David Ortiz to fly out for the second out. My Red Sox MVP drove in the only Sox run of the night with a double that scored Ellsbury, cutting the lead to 2-1. McGowan finished off the 4th by getting J.D. Drew to ground back to him.
Wakefield had settled down after Hill’s single in the first. He had retired eight straight batters before Hill singled off him in the 4th. It was for naught though as Zaun grounded into an inning-ending double play.
The Blue Jays got another run in the 5th inning, their only run not driven in by Thomas. After Wake got Adam Lind for the first out of the inning, he issued a free pass to Russ Adams, who stole second with John McDonald at the plate. McDonald moved Adams to third with an infield single. Adams came around to score when Wells grounded into a fielder’s choice retiring McDonald at second. Stairs followed that up with a single but Wells was thrown out trying to advance to third.
Thomas got his second home run of the night in the 6th with one out off Wakefield. The homer gave the Jays a 4-1 lead. Wakefield got out of the inning with no further damage done.
McGowan was still on cruise control. He set down 12 straight batters before Alex Cora doubled with two outs in the 8th inning. Brandon Moss pinch-hit for Kevin Cash and struck out.
Kyle Synder came into start the 8th for the Sox, taking over for Bryan Corey, who had taken over for Wake in the 7th. Rios led off the inning and reached on an error by Cora, who stumbled and couldn’t make a strong throw to first (video in the notes section). It didn’t really matter as Synder served up a nice meatball to Thomas, who crushed it for his third homer of the night, giving the Jays a 6-1 lead. Synder then got Hill to strikeout then had some control issues as he plunked Zaun and Russ Johnson. He got out of the inning as Adams and McDonald made the final two outs.
McGowan came back out for the 9th, looking for only his second complete game of his career. Ellsbury led off with a single and was thrown out advancing to second. Pedroia followed that up with a single of his own. McGowan then struck out Big Papi for the third time of the night. Lowell grounded out to end the game for the Sox.
Color me officially worried now. Pending the outcome of the Yankees game, the lead in the AL East could be 3 1/2 games. The magic number to clinch the AL East remains at 9 and the magic number for the Sox to clinch a playoff spot is 6. That number goes down when the Red Sox win and the Detroit Tigers lose. At this time, the Tigers are tied with the Indians in the 10th inning.
Notes and Musings:
Did you know that Ted Williams was almost a member of the Yankees? Head over to BostonsportZ.com to read about it.
The Red Sox had some fun with their rookies on their final trip of the year. Daisuke Matsuzaka was dressed up as a green Teletubby, Hideki Okajima and Jacoby Ellsbury were female pirates, Clay Buchholz was Minnie Mouse and Brandon Moss was dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Even Masa Hoshino, Matsuzaka’s interpreter was dressed as a purple Teletubby.
Doug Mirabelli wasn’t behind the plate tonight and will most likely make his return to the lineup when Wakefield makes his next start. Scratch that. Mirabelli made an appearance behind the plate in the bottom of the 8th inning after Cash was pinch-hit for in the top half of the inning.
Kevin Youkilis is still sore and a few days away from making it back to the lineup. He has some swelling in his thumb and since it’s his throwing hand and top hand on the bat, a few days of rest will hopefully be all he needs.
It looks like the earliest Manny Ramirez will return is Friday. Terry Francona said it’s up to Manny as when he wants to return.
Clay Buchholz will start on Wednesday for the Sox. It will be his third start of the season for the Sox and his fourth appearance. He is 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA.
The game lasted a meager 2 hours and 13 minutes. A far cry from the four hour battles this weekend with the Yanks.
Here is the video of Cora stumbling.
