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The Boston Red Sox Wednesday, May 19, 2021 * The Boston Globe Blue Jays batter Red Sox in meeting of early AL East leaders Julian McWilliams Tuesday initiated the start of a series between two of baseball’s most prolific offenses, two separated by 1½ games atop the American League East. The Red Sox had a best-in-baseball .772 OPS. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, were tied for the second-most homers in baseball despite big offseason acquisition George Springer playing in just four games this year. “It’s a challenge,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before the game. “And we’re up to the challenge. We feel we have a good team.” At least on Tuesday they weren’t, bludgeoned by the Blue Jays, 8-0, in Dunedin, Fla. The bottom of the fourth inning decided the fates of Eduardo Rodriguez and his team. With the Sox trailing, 1-0, after a Danny Jansen RBI single in the second, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. cracked a full-count double to lead off the fourth. Rodriguez retired the next two hitters, but Jansen negotiated a walk to bring up Marcus Semien, who fisted an RBI single of his own to right field. Sox right fielder Hunter Renfroe, attempting to cut down Jansen, made an off-target and ill-advised throw to third. It sailed far to Rafael Devers’s right, allowing Jansen to score. Bo Bichette then stung an RBI double that stretched the lead to 4-0. Gurriel Jr. made it 5-0 in the fifth, singling after a Teoscar Hernández double, and Hernández made it 6-0 in the sixth, singling after a two-out walk to Bichette and a line-drive single by Vlad Guerrero Jr. The latter was against Matt Andriese, Rodriguez done after the fifth and 11 of Toronto’s 18 hits, tying a career high allowed by the lefthander. “I was missing a lot over the middle of the plate,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve given up a lot of runs and base hits when that happens, and that was [the result] today. I just need to work these next four days and get better for the next one.” Though the Renfroe mishap didn’t help, neither did Rodriguez’s dip in velocity — a topic of conversation in his first seven starts. He sat 93-95 miles per hour in the first three innings, then 91-93 in the fourth and 91-92 in the fifth. “I don’t want him to get caught up [thinking] he needs to throw hard right away, and then that happens,” Cora said. “He can actually pitch at 91-92 [early in the game] and do it the other way around. He can gain velocity throughout the outing. So, those are things that we’ll take a look at.” In addition to some of the command issues, Cora noted that one of Rodriguez’s pitches wasn’t effective: His cutter. In 2019, hitters tallied a .243 batting average on it. This year, it’s up to .355. “I think the cutter actually is bigger than usual,” Cora said. “It’s actually playing like a hanging slider instead of it being sharp, and throwing [that] pitch whenever he wants to. He’s been able to elevate the last two starts, but there’s been a lot of contact. I think teams are doing a good job of staying with him and going the other way.” Hyun Jin Ryu held the Sox to just four hits in seven innings of shutout baseball. He gave the Red Sox batters a headache, striking out seven. “He got some quick outs. He was on top of us the whole night, either with the fastball or the breaking ball,” Cora said. “He expanded with the changeup. He’s one of the best and not too many talk about him.” Andriese allowed seven hits and three runs in the final three innings, with Randal Grichuk smashing a two- out home run to right in the eighth to cap the scoring. What certainly appeared as if it were an evenly matched game was no contest Tuesday. On what his team needs to do to recover, Rodriguez opted for a simple approach. “We have to come back tomorrow and pitch well and hit well,” he said. “That’s all we need [to do] as a team.” Kiké Hernández comes off injured list, bats leadoff for Red Sox Julian McWilliams Kiké Hernández was activated from the injured list ahead of the Red Sox series opener against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla. Hernández batted leadoff and went 1-for-4 in the 8-0 loss as the center fielder, giving them a boost at that spot despite his hitting .239/.298/.425 with four homers in 124 plate appearances prior to going on the IL with a right hamstring strain. Despite the underwhelming numbers, Hernández said his only goal was to get through his rehab stint healthy. “Mission accomplished,” he said. The Red Sox went 6-4 in the 10 games Hernández missed, and still sit atop the American League East, a half-game ahead of the Blue Jays. “I think we’re in a good spot right now. We’re in first place,” Hernández said. “There’s a lot of ways we can get better. [But] that’s what you want, finding ways to win games, even when you’re not playing great. And we’ve managed to do that so far.” Sticking around The Blue Jays carry one of the more lethal offenses in baseball, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. having a breakout year, slashing .329/.445/.615 with a whopping 1.060 OPS and 11 homers following his 3-for-5 Tuesday. “He always controls the strikes zone,” manager Alex Cora said. “That’s something that he did in the minor leagues, and he’s doing that at the big league level. And he’s able to drive the ball to right-center. That’s a mark of a good hitter. But at the end of the day it’s about controlling the strike zone. And throughout his career, he’s done that.” The Blue Jays’ 56 home runs led the American League entering Tuesday, with Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette each adding nine. Randal Grichuk’s blast in the eighth Tuesday was Toronto’s 27th in its 15 regular-season games this season in Dunedin, where they’ll play through Monday before returning to Buffalo, last season’s temporary home, beginning June 1. Danny Santana continuing to ramp up INF/OF Danny Santana continues to get his reps with Triple-A Worcester, cracking three more hits (including a double and a home run) as the first baseman in a 9-4 WooSox win over Buffalo. Even though Franchy Cordero put together two doubles for the Red Sox on Sunday against the Angels, he’s still hitting just .167 and is yet to homer in 91 plate appearances. He could benefit from some minor league at-bats, which would clear space for Santana, who’s 11-for-26 (.423) with three homers between High-A Greenville and the WooSox. “He feels good,” Cora said. “Swinging the bat well. They have been using him all over the place. So you know where he’s at right now physically and baseball wise, he’s in a good spot.” Also Tuesday in Worcester, Red Sox pitching prospect Eduard Bazardo left with an apparent arm injury. Bazardo grabbed for his elbow in the top of the ninth inning after just five pitches, and asked to be taken out of the game. Christian Arroyo takes BP Christian Arroyo (hand contusion) took batting practice with the WooSox at Polar Park on Tuesday. Arroyo stayed back for the first leg of the Sox’ road trip, and the team will make a decision based on how he comes out of BP. Michael Chavis made the trip with the Red Sox, while Jonathan Araúz was optioned to make room for Hernández. There’s a strong likelihood that Chavis will be optioned once Arroyo is ready . The Blue Jays activated righthanded reliever Rafael Dolis off the injured list before the game. He pitched the ninth Tuesday, his first action since May 7 because of a right calf strain. Dolis replaced lefthanded reliever Nick Allgeyer, who was optioned on Monday. Here’s what it was like for the Red Sox to play a real major league game in a modest spring training ballpark Peter Abraham DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Red Sox usually play the Blue Jays here once or twice during spring training. It’s a long road trip the veteran players try to avoid. David Ortiz somehow always decided it would be better if he stayed back and worked on his swing when a bus ride from Fort Myers to Dunedin was on the schedule. TD Ballpark, built in 1990, was renovated in 2019 and it needed it. The visitor’s clubhouse was a concrete cube a few steps from the parking lot that looked more like a prison rec room. The visiting manager had such a small office that the postgame press conference was usually held outside. Terry Francona once had to shush fans clamoring for his autograph so he could hear our questions. But there is no skipping Dunedin this week. The first-place Red Sox started an important three-game series against the second-place Blue Jays on Tuesday night. There was something nostalgic about seeing a major league game played in such a modest setting. There are only 20 rows of seats from the field to the top of the grandstand and no seats in the outfield, only standing room.

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