:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/6435584/20120411_ajw_sx9_014.jpg)
Red Sox 1 Blue Jays 3
That was a great game. Loved it.
Ricky Romero was great for 8 innings, he had some trouble in the 9th, giving up walks to Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, before getting Adrian Gonzalez to fly out and then Farrell gave the ball to Santos. Before that he had only given up 3 hits and 1 run.
I liked the idea of leaving Ricky in, he was under 100 pitches and looked strong, but I'm glad they had Sergio warming, up just in case.
He was helped along by some great defense. In the 3rd inning, Ricky gave up singles to Cody Ross and Mike Aviles. Kelly Shoppach bunted, J.P. Arencibia jumped on it quick and made a perfect throw to third to get the lead runner. Ellsbury's single, that followed, only scored one run, when it would have been 2 without the play by J.P. We also had some nice plays by our infield, Lawrie and Escobar must be about as good a pair, on the left side of the infield, as there is in baseball. Lawrie made an amazing catch on a line drive. Jose Bautista also made a great catch in right and Rajai Davis made a good catch on the track in CF.
Sergio Santos came in, with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out, and was great. A Kevin Youkilis strikeout and a soft ground out for David Ortiz and we get the win. If he can continue to throw like that, we aren't going to see many more blown saves.
On offense, we only had 3 hits, one each from Yunel Escobar, Eric Thames and Davis. But since the Thames single and Davis' triple came in the same inning, followed by a Yunel sac fly, that was enough. Davis also got us an insurance run in the 8th, taking a walk, then stealing second on a pickoff throw from John Lester. Davis went on first movement and beat the relay from Gonazalez to second. He scored on Yunel's single. Davis is a great player, when he can get on base.
Jays of the Day are Romero (.329 WPA), Santos (.242, great job, great pitches) and Davis (.148). JP had the low mark (-.078) but they don't take into account the play on the bunt or the 3 or 4 bounced pitches that he blocked. I also think Lawrie deserves an honorable mention for that catch.
Tomorrow's an off-day (what am I going to do without the Jays to watch?), then we have the Orioles coming into town. Sergio will be off to be with his wife who is having baby, right after the game. I'm sure he'll feel better about it all with that save.
A series win over the Red Sox. Life is good.