Aaron Cook falters in 7-3 Red Sox loss
Through the first five innings of Saturday night’s Red Sox/Blue Jays game, things were going pretty well. Aaron Cook was cruising, allowing one run (which was unearned) and forcing the multiple groundouts that pitchers with a strong sinker like Cook’s generate.
But then came the sixth and seventh innings. Cook’s sinker stopped sinking, and the Blue Jays batters jumped all over his pitches to mount a late comeback in a 7-3 Toronto win.
In the sixth inning, when the Red Sox were leading 3-1, Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion erased the Blue Jay deficit with a two-run home run that tied the game at 3-3. Then in the seventh, Cook allowed a leadoff home run to J.P. Arencibia that put the Blue Jays ahead, 4-3.
“They were pitches that came back over the middle of the plate. If I had two pitches to take back the whole game, those would be the only two,” Cook said in his post-game press conference.
Cook’s evening was not helped by the Red Sox offense, as the Boston lineup scored all of its runs on a three-run home run from Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the second inning. Four Red Sox batters were held hitless on the night, and none recorded a multi-hit game.
With the loss, the Red Sox drop to 48-47 on the season, good enough for fourth place in the AL East.
Downers:
– Will Middlebrooks had another rough evening. He committed his second error in as many nights (his ninth error of the season) and went 0-for-4 at the plate. Middlebrooks’ error in the seventh proved quite costly, as it allowed two unearned runs to score and helped Toronto to a commanding 6-3 lead.
– Matt Albers had a terrible outing in the seventh inning. He pitched to three batters, walking two and allowing a hit while retiring none before Bobby Valentine pulled him. Albers has walked four batters in his last 1 1/3 innings of relief.
Bright spots:
– Saturday night was Thanks Tek night, and fans had an opportunity once again to shower the former catcher and team captain with appreciation. Varitek was awarded home plate by pitchers Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett as well as a pair of Fenway seats from David Ortiz and a new truck from the Red Sox organization.
Looking ahead:
The Red Sox will look to avoid a sweep Sunday when Jon Lester takes the mound against Henderson Alvarez of the Blue Jays. The game starts at 1:35 p.m.
