Red Sox 7 Blue Jays 5
TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays were back at it Tuesday night after enjoying one of those rare weekends that can make even the most hardened of skeptics dream just a little bit.
There was a palpable buzz about the city following the memorable sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays and the arrival of another AL East foe, the Boston Red Sox, offered more opportunity to extend a lifeline to the improbably hope of a run at the post-season.
But no one has been tougher on the Blue Jays this year than the Red Sox, and that trend continued in a 7-5 loss. Rick Romero was roughed up again by the Beantowners, this time for five runs in six unsteady innings, before Shawn Camp surrendered the decisive runs in a shaky eighth after the offence twice rallied from early deficits.
The loss dropped the Blue Jays (59-53) to 2-8 this season against the Red Sox (65-49) and halted a run of five wins in six games before a crowd of 27,690. With eight more games left against Boston over the next month and a half, not to mention nine with the New York Yankees and six with the Rays, Toronto will have an impact on the AL East and wild card races whether they are in the race or not.
“This is when it all matters,” said Blue Jays centre-fielder Vernon Wells, who sat out with a dislocated right big toe. “We get a chance to play the teams that are ahead of us and those teams are two of the most storied franchises and three of the best teams in baseball.
“We’ve got a chance to prove ourselves each and every night. It’s fun to see these young guys come up and respond to the challenge, but we’re still a long ways from where we need to be.”
No argument there, as the loss combined with Tampa Bay’s 8-0 win left the Blue Jays 9 1-2 games back of the wild-card leader.
Jose Bautista’s leadoff homer off reliever Felix Doubront (2-2) in the seventh tied things 5-5, but Camp (3-2) yakked it up in the eighth, allowing a go-ahead solo blast to Mike Lowell and an RBI double to Jed Lowrie.
Manny Delcarmen kept things there in the eighth before Jonathan Papelbon locked it down in the ninth for his 29th save.
The Red Sox killed off any lingering euphoria from Saturday’s eight home run performance highlighted by J.P. Arencibia’s stunning two-homer debut and Sunday’s one-hit, 17-strikeout masterpiece by Brandon Morrow by jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the second.
Romero, up in the zone, gave up RBI doubles by Adrian Beltre and Jed Lowrie and a run-scoring single by Jacoby Ellsbury. Adam Lind responded with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning, before the Red Sox went up 4-1 on Lowell’s bases loaded sacrifice fly.
Having watched Romero limit the damage, Daisuke Matsuzaka proceeded to walk John McDonald and Fred Lewis to open the third and then served up a three-run shot to Travis Snider that tied it.
J.D. Drew then put the Red Sox ahead 5-4 with his solo shot into the second deck in right to open the fifth.
Romero, blasted for five runs in 2 1-3 innings versus Boston on July 9, allowed eight hits and two walks while striking out four.
Notes: Blue Jays SS Yunel Escobar was a late scratch with soreness in his right knee. John McDonald started in his place. ... The Jays are shuffling their rotation to give Brandon Morrow extra rest after his 137-pitch, one-hit gem Sunday, and allow a cut on the right knee of Brett Cecil to heal. Morrow won’t start again until Tuesday at the Angels, while Cecil was pushed back to Saturday once his three stitches will be out. Brad Mills starts Thursday against Boston before going down to triple-A Las Vegas to make room for Marc Rzepczynski, who will start Friday. ... Fred Lewis started in CF for Vernon Wells, who expects to play Wednesday after dislocating his right big toe Sunday. ... Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia (broken left foot) ran at full speed Tuesday and could return as soon as Aug. 17. ... Toronto Argos QB Cleo Lemon and Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin took in the game.