Wow, this was a tough way to not just lose the game, but the series if you are the Boston Red Sox. This game was one to watch for if you are into pitching because what a duel that was. Kevin Gausman and Tanner Houck put on a clinic and the game itself went into extra innings. Ultimately, the Blue Jays won in extras 2-1. Here’s how we got there.

It Was All About the Pitching 

This was a pitching duel right from the start. Houck was shaky in the first inning, allowing three straight singles to load the bases. The Blue Jays would score after executing yet another hit. Houck eventually got the punch out to get out of the inning and with very little damage, which felt like a miracle. Right away and almost immediately, the Red Sox responded.

A triple by Jarren Duran set up the Red Sox perfectly and a deep fly out by Alex Bregman was enough to drive in the run. Since the first inning, it was a toe to toe match between Houck and Gausman.

Tanner Houck

Despite a shaky first inning, Houck eventually settled in and had complete control. He threw 90 pitches and went 6.2 innings, which is good for him and better than the prior two outings. He only gave up the one run and managed to walk two batters and strike out two. There were times he fell behind in the counts, but ultimately he put forth his best outing of the entire season. You just wish you got the run support behind him. However, the Red Sox bats were held asleep at the wheel cause of Gausman.

Kevin Gausman

Take a bow Kevin Gausman, because you deserve it. Gausman was lights out for the Blue Jays and the Red Sox had no answers for it. Gausman went innings and eight very strong innings. He walked zero batters and struck out ten. TEN. Not to mention, the Red Sox struck out 14 times in general. Gausman was very fastball heavy, while mixing in his splitter. Gausman had a 38% whiff rate with his fastball alone. The Red Sox just had nothing going against him and it was yet another dominant performance.

Going to Extras

Both teams’ bullpens held down their forts. Justin Wilson, Justin Slaten, and Aroldis Chapman helped get this game to extra innings. The same can be said for the Blue Jays. The Red Sox had a prime position to score in the bottom of the ninth with men on first and third with one out. Why no bunt to try to move the runner up? Just anything to give yourself life. Or simply put the ball into play. But the game winning run was a sacrifice fly out by Bo Bichette to drive in the run. It was definitely one of those games, but for the Red Sox this was a painful defeat.

Why this Loss Stings for Boston

For Houck to have this type of start, you want to win the ball game and give him run support. This was a winnable game and the red Sox bats could not deliver. In fact they’ve been asleep all series. But this game they had just four hits and were 0-10 with RISP. That’s a recipe for disaster.

Tomorrow is the series finale and then it’s off to Chicago.