It wasn't an especially fruitful weekend for the Boston Red Sox, who lost two of three games to the division-rival Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
And frankly, things weren't especially close on Saturday or Sunday. Five different Blue Jays homered in a 7-2 win Saturday evening, and that was simply an appetizer for what was to come Sunday. In the rubber match of the series, the Red Sox lost 18-4 to the Blue Jays, with the Blue Jays clubbing seven home runs.
At least for the fans in attendance, it can sometimes be more entertaining for your team to lose by 10 or more runs than five, because it can set the stage for a position player taking the mound. Fans in Boston got to see two different position players take the mound for Alex Cora Sunday.
After Martín Pérez and Ryan Webber combined to allow 16 runs in the first seven innings, the Red Sox turned to Marwin González in the eighth inning. To his credit, one of this era's best super-utility players needed just 11 pitches to retire the Blue Jays in the eighth, displaying quite the ability to mix speeds:
Utility infielder Christian Arroyo came in to pitch the top of the ninth inning, allowing one hit and two runs, neither of which were earned:
As noted by the Red Sox Radio Booth on WEEI, the eight home runs that Boston allowed Sunday are the most in the history of the franchise. Only one of those eight was surrendered by a position player.
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