TORONTO - The Toronto Blue Jays find themselves in the American League East basement for the first time this season, and they won't like how they ended up there after Saturday's 7-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox.
A funky finish on Daniel Nava's line drive just as centre-fielder Colby Rasmus looked set to snare it turned out to be the game's pivotal play, allowing the final two runs to score in a four-run second inning that left Kyle Drabek and the Blue Jays swimming upstream the rest of the afternoon.
The play was scored a single, as it appeared that Rasmus, who was moving to his left in pursuit of the ball, didn't touch it as it cut back to his right just before dropping onto his toe.
Things may certainly have turned out differently had the ball been caught for the third out of the frame, keeping the Red Sox within closer range.
Instead, the Blue Jays had to play for the big inning, didn't do enough with their opportunities for a crooked number in the third and fourth, and helped Boston to another run in the fourth when Jose Bautista's throwing error trying to cut Kevin Youkilis down at second base allowed him to advance, and come around on a double play ball by Will Middlebrooks.
The Blue Jays are now in salvage mode, looking to avoid the sweep Sunday when they start Drew Hutchison against Daniel Bard.
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THE BIG PICTURE: The Blue Jays (27-26) fell a game behind the Red Sox (28-25) for fourth in the East, having lost for the sixth time in nine contests before a crowd of 43,390, their second largest of the year. Boston had been either last or tied for fourth the whole season before the victory.
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RISKY RUN: Brett Lawrie was thrown out trying to steal third with two outs in the eighth, an especially poor decision given the Red Sox were a bit unsteady after Ryan Sweeney's careless handling of the third baseman's single in right allowed Edwin Encarnacion and close the gap. The play also prevented David Cooper, who's been swinging the bat well since coming up from Las Vegas, from hitting with a runner in scoring position against Vicente Padilla.
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THE PITCHING: Drabek (4-6), pounded for a career-high nine runs on eight hits and two walks over three innings at Texas his last time out, was much better this time out, and his line would have been cleaner had Rasmus caught Nava's ball in the second.
The sophomore righty allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits and four walks over 6.2 innings. A run-scoring single by Will Middlebrooks and RBI double by Nick Punto came before Nava's stroke, and the Red Sox only managed the unearned run set up by Bautista's error in the fourth.
Drabek threw two bullpens between his last start and Saturday, working with the yellow ropes framing the rubber he used in spring training to try and keep him aligned to the plate. He also stood taller in the stretch, trying to avoid a balance loss.
"At times, but I think that can be effort related," manager John Farrell said before the game. "When he spins off, it's when he rushes to home plate and he doesn't stay gathered over the rubber. That's really the area we've addressed, where his set-up in the stretch has been a wider stance, you might see him standing a little bit taller, because when you're in a wide stance, as you soon as you lift your left foot, balance is lost a little bit more readily.
"The body gets out ahead of the arm, the effort follows, and that's where the spin off follows."
The Blue Jays bullpen coughed up a pair of runs, one charged to Darren Oliver on Sweeney's run-scoring groundout, and one on Punto's solo shot in the ninth off Carlos Villanueva.
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THE OFFENCE: The Blue Jays came into the day riding an unusual streak in which their last six runs all came via solo homers, and they extended that trend with Jeff Mathis's shot off the top of the wall in right-centre in the third.
Kelly Johnson's RBI single in the fourth - he's now 9-for-25 hitting with runners in scoring position and two out - ended that run, but Bautista made it eight of nine runs with a blast to left leading off the fifth.
Sweeney gifted them the run in the eighth, but Alfredo Aceves closed things out in the ninth for his 14th save.
Felix Doubront (6-2) allowed three runs, two earned in 6.1 innings, escaping trouble in the third with two on and one out by getting Bautista on a popper to centre, and after Encarnacion's infield single, Rasmus on a weak pop up to third.
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MINOR MOVE: The Blue Jays claimed right-hander Chris Schwinden from the New York Mets on waivers, and assigned him to triple-A Las Vegas. Double-A New Hampshire reliever Danny Farquhar was designated for assignment to clear space of the 40-man roster.
Schwinden, 25, appeared in three games for the Mets, two starts, going 0-1 with a 12.46 earned-run average. In nine starts with triple-A Buffalo, he was 3-4 with a 2.59 ERA.
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