Boston Red Sox: ‘Terrible week’ capped by home run derby at Fenway

Once upon a time, the Boston Red Sox starting pitching rotation was actually getting the job done on the mound.  That seems like a long, long time ago at this point after the team suffered an embarrassing 18-4 loss at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.

It was basically a one-team home run derby for the Blue Jays who continued to ride the hot bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the weak pitching of the Red Sox.

A day after Nick Pivetta gave up three long balls, left-handed veteran Martin Perez surrendered three dingers, including a three-run homer in the first inning that got the ball rolling (or in this case launching) for the Blue Jays who have now won 2-of-3 in the four-game series.

In all, Perez gave up five runs in just over one inning pitched and just hasn’t looked like the pitcher who shut down the Houston Astros just two starts ago.  Actually, none of the starters have looked good in a stretch in which they have gone 0-4 with a 12.00 ERA.  Ouch!

Furthermore, the franchise-record eight home runs surrendered by the team as a whole is both a testament to the Blue Jays relentless attack and Red Sox pitching just not getting it done.

But, hey…those kinds of games happen right Mr. Perez?

"“It’s gonna happen, games like this,” Perez said following the beatdown, via MLB.com.  “Once a year it’s gonna happen, and it happened tonight to us.”"

Let’s hope there are not more games in which the team gives up 18 runs on 20 hits and 8 homers.

Were the Boston Red Sox starters cheating their way to success?

With Alex Cora back as manager, there is going to always be some speculation when it comes to cheating.

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Coincidentally, the starters have been less effective since the league put the spotlight on “sticky stuff” being used as an advantage for pitchers.  Is that the case for Red Sox starters?

We certainly hope not, but unless and until things get turned back around, that suggestion will be out there.  Martin Perez, who was having a pretty solid season, shut that down and attributed the struggles of the starters as a whole to location issues.

"“I’m not a cheater pitcher, man.  I’ve been around for a long time and I don’t use that kind of stuff,” Perez said.  “We’ve been not pitching good for the last three or four days, it’s [not] because of the sticky things, no.  It’s because we’re not locating the pitches where we want.”"

Yes, poor pitch execution is what we’ll stick with and chalk up the last few games as a “terrible week” in the words of Cora.

Hey, the Boston Red Sox hit some home runs too!

While the Fenway faithful did get a little tired of watching Blue Jays launch homers like it was target practice, the home team did flex their muscles…just a little.

Hard to get too excited with the game already out of reach, but Xander Bogaerts launched a rocket in the bottom of the second inning and Bobby Dalbec hit a bomb in the seventh inning.

Both, however, were solo shots and really had no bearing on the final score.  With Ryan Weber giving up 11 earned runs in 5 2/3 relief innings, there wasn’t really a chance for any excitement for Boston Red Sox fans.

The good news is the team is still 39-27 on the season with a chance to even the series with Nathan Eovaldi taking the mound against Guerrero Jr. and his boys.

The bad news is…it’s the Toronto Blue Jays.