Red Sox Win Streak Snapped as Bats Cool Off in 6-2 Loss to Jays

Not a lot of fun to be had at Fenway Park on Monday. Freezing cold temperatures and steady rainfall made for a miserable night for fans and Red Sox batters alike.

That plus a dominant outing from Blue Jays ace Jose Berrios silenced the previously scorching hot Red Sox offense in a 6-2 defeat to Toronto in the opener of a four game set at Fenway.

The game, which was in jeopardy of being rained out surprisingly started on time, and right off the bat – literally – fans were treated to one of the best defensive plays they will see all season. Jays slugger Bo Bichette drove the first pitch of the game deep to the gap in right center. Sox centerfielder Ceddanne Rafaela came out of nowhere to make a spectacular sliding catch, crashing into the base of the bullpen wall.

The ball had an expected batting average of .820 and according to Statcast a catch probability of 5%. Rafaela covered 102 feet of ground to snag it in 5.2 seconds.

“Unreal,” said Red Sox starter Richard Fitts. “That’s the kind of guy that we want out there and I trust him wholeheartedly.”

“Unreal,” said Red Sox starter Richard Fitts, whose reaction to the catch said it all. “That’s the kind of guy that we want out there and I trust him wholeheartedly.”

Things would start to fall apart for the Sox shortly after that. Starting catcher Connor Wong fractured his pinky after being hit on his glove hand by a George Springer swing in the top of the first. He remained in for the rest of the frame but was removed the next inning. “

He has a small fracture in the pinky area so he’s moving to the IL,” Alex Cora said after the game via the NESN postgame show. “How long we don’t know, late swing got him good.”

Springer wasn’t done doing damage. The Connecticut native went 4-for-4 on the night with three RBI singles.

Toronto opened up the scoring in the 3rd inning on an Andres Gimenez sacrifice fly and a Springer RBI single.

The Sox closed the gap to 2-1 on a Rafael Devers sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame.

The Jays got it back in the 5th as Springer added an RBI single to make it 3-1 Toronto. That’s all they would get off Fitts though, who struggled with his command but was able to limit the Jays to 3 runs on 6 hits over six innings. He walked four, struck out four and threw a career high 102 pitches.

“I went out there in long sleeves and ended up starting to sweat a little bit, so I took my long sleeves off,” Fitts said. “Honestly, I felt pretty good out there. More than anything, the wind made the ball a little bit slicker. I was licking my fingers every pitch, trying to do anything to get grip.”

The Sox rookie has been a bright spot for Boston in his limited big league career, with a 2.76 ERA in six career starts dating back to last September.

Toronto added two more runs in the top of the seventh on RBI singles from Springer’s and Will Wagner, making the score 5-1 Jays.

The Red Sox offense which had been red hot coming in was silenced by Berrios who allowed only one run on four hits over 7 innings.

The Red Sox best chance to get back in the game came in the 8th. Boston got a run back on an RBI single by Triston Casas off reliever Yimi Garcia. The Red Sox had two men on and the potential tying run at the plate but Garcia got Trevor Story looking at strike 3 to end the threat. Toronto added one more run in the 9th on an RBI single by Nathan Lukes.

The Red Sox host Toronto at Fenway Park again on Tuesday night. First pitch is 6:45 p.m. Ace Garrett Crochet makes his Fenway Park debut. He is 1-0 so far on the season including a dominant outing his last time out against the Orioles.