By TERRY LYONS
FENWAY – The score of 28-3 has significant meaning to New England sports fans as it was the score the New England Patriots trailed by when they came back to win 34-28 over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI held in Houston in 2017. As of Friday night at Fenway Park, the new score to reckon with for all Boston Red Sox fans is 28-5.
Twenty-eight to five! In baseball!
You have to look back in the record book a full 99 years to see that Friday night’s 28-5 Toronto Blue Jays shellacking of the Red Sox which set a franchise record for most runs allowed in a single game. The previous record of 27 runs came on July 7, 1923 in the first game of a twin bill scheduled that woeful summer day in Cleveland.
Aside from the record-setting embarrassment of the Sox in front of a sold-out but stoic Fenway, the loss marked Boston’s third consecutive game in the “L” column. They are (1-7) over their last eight games and (3-11) over their last 14 games, dropping Boston to fourth place in the competitive American League East and just one game in that important and previously mentioned “L” column ahead of the surging Baltimore Orioles.
On the flip side of the ledger, the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian football League are envious of the Blue Jays who set franchise records in both runs scored (28) and hits (29) in a single baseball game.The Blue Jays are only the sixth team in MLB history to score 28+ runs in a single game with the most recent being the Atlanta Braves scoring 29 against the Miami Marlins on September 9, 2020.
Other team records were plentiful
- Toronto Became the first team to have all nine starters record multiple hits and runs scored
- The Jays had multiple players record six or more RBI in a game for the 1st time in franchise history (Tapia and Jansen)
- Toronto scored 11 runs in the top of the 5th inning, their most runs in one inning since 9/11/21 at BAL-G2 (7th inning, also 11 runs)
- 12 straight Jays’ batters reached base via hit or walk in the 5th inning, all with 2 outs (10 H, 2 BB)
- Toronto tied the major league record for runs scored in a game’s first 5 innings (25, also CHC on 8/25/1922 vs. PHI).
On the player side:
- OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went 6-for-7, scoring three runs, hitting a double, and recording five RBI which tied the Blue Jays’ franchise record for hits, joining Frank Catalanotto on 5/1/04 at CWS-G2.
- OF Ramiel Tapia went 3-for-7, scoring twice, hit a 2B, and had six RBI, four resulting from an inside-the-park grand slam in the third inning to extend the Toronto lead to 10-0. He set his career high in RBI.
- Catcher Danny Jansen recorded his fourth career multi-HR game (previous: 5/24 at STL) and tied a single-game franchise record for RBI by a catcher (6 RBI – four times with the previous: J.P. Arencibia 5/18/12 vs. NYM).
- Pitcher Kevin Gausman went 5.0 IP, with seven hits allowed, three runs, 10 strike-outs) tied a season high in strikeouts
- Gausman has struck out 28 batters in his three starts against Boston this year (20.0 IP).
“It was tough to be in the dugout to be honest with you,” said Boston Manager Alex Cora to the Boston Globe. “And, they know that it’s not a lack of preparation. It’s not a lack of effort, because we keep working on our stuff and we keep going through the process the right way. I love to say that this happens, but it doesn’t happen often, you know, and we just got to turn the page.”
The page is turned and the book re-opened at 4:10pm Saturday afternoon. Same two teams.
