The good news is that John Lackey pitched reasonably well.
Red Sox Blow Lead, Opening Door For Rays
The bad news is that Daniel Bard didn't, again.
The worse news -- for Red Sox fans, anyway -- is that Bard gave up three runs in the top of the eighth inning and Boston lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4.
Granted, it wasn’t a good outing for Lackey, who lasted only 5-1/3 innings while throwing 115 pitches. But he gave up only two runs and issued only one walk; he hadn’t given up fewer than two walks since August 1 or fewer than three runs since July 22. Yeah, we’re grasping at straws. So are the Red Sox.
It was a bad outing for Bard, and there have been a bunch of those lately. He entered September with a 2.15 ERA. In his five outings this month, he’s given up 10 runs in 4-2/3 innings, with three losses and a blown save, while his ERA has jumped by nearly a full run.
Wednesday, Bard entered in the eighth to protect a 4-2 lead. But after walking Edwin Encarnacion and Kelly Johnson to start the inning, Bard made a throwing error on a sacrifice attempt to load the bases. J.P. Arencibia plated Encarnacion with a grounder to third, and then pitcher-turned-outfielder Adam Loewen put the Jays ahead with a two-run single.
Blue Jays starter Ricky Romero earned the win eight strong innings, and closer Frank Francisco set down the Red Sox in order in the ninth. Adrian Gonzalez led off the sixth inning with a home run, but exited the game immediately afterward because of a strained calf. He's initially being listed as day-to-day.
With the Red Sox blowing out the Blue Jays Tuesday night and the Rays losing a tough game in Baltimore, Tampa Bay fell four games behind Boston in the Wild Card standings. For the moment, it's 3-1/2 games, pending the Rays' Wednesday-night game in Baltimore.
Next, the Rays visit the Red Sox for a four-game series, beginning Thursday night.
The Rays can’t get swept in that series. Realistically, they can’t lose three of four, and even a split would do terrible things to their chances.
But if the Rays beat the Orioles Wednesday night, they'll enter their series against the Red Sox needing to take only three of four to pull to within one game of the Wild Card. And then all bets are off, obviously.
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