* Text Features
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.
[Show full text]