Blue Jays Drub Red Sox on Eve of Trade Deadline, Return to Toronto
As rain cascaded over the light standards at Fenway Park, the Blue Jays looked determine to win, and wasted no time doing so.
George Springer struck out to begin the first, but the next three Blue Jays reached base against Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodríguez. With three ducks on the pond, Teoscar Hernández broke the ice on a two-run double off the right field wall. Toronto added another run in the second, two in the fourth, three in the fifth, three in the sixth and one in the seventh in an utter beatdown on Thursday night.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s massive three-run home run—his 33rd of the season—was the cherry on top, as every Blue Jays starter recorded a hit and an RBI in the 13-1 win.
After a dull showing in Game Two of Wednesday's doubleheader, the Blue Jays revived their bats and smacked around Red Sox pitching—beginning with Rodríguez. Toronto has now scored 13 runs off the Red Sox lefty in 14 1/3 innings this season.
Hyun Ryu exhibited his prototypical calming presence on the mound and placed his changeup perfectly as he lulled the Red Sox bats to sleep. The left-hander dipped and doodled his way through six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, walking none and striking out five on 87 pitches. Ryu has now won 10 games this season.
"With all my pitches, my command was there for me," Ryu said through a team interpreter.
"My fastball seemed like it had more life than normal. With my cutter, I was able to locate where I really wanted to which resulted in a lot of weak contact. With my changeup especially, I thought about trying to get the velocity to go down a bit and I think it just worked out really well for me," he said.
Baseball Savant
During nights like these, a good bullpen isn't required. To win in September and October, however, it's an absolute necessity. With that in mind, the Blue Jays front office got a head start on bolstering the relief corps several hours before the game began.
The bullpen's newest 'helping Hand'
Earlier on Thursday, the Blue Jays acquired left-hander reliever Brad Hand from the Washington Nationals in exchange for catcher Riley Adams.
The trade was logical. With several young catchers on the roster in Gabriel Moreno, Alejandro Kirk, Danny Jansen and McGuire, Adams became an expendable asset on a team looking to contend immediately. The Blue Jays bullpen is a glaring weakness and Hand will make Toronto a better team.
Now, Hand is not perfect—he's actually in the midst of his worst season since 2015. After leading MLB with 16 saves in 2020, the three-time All-Star has regressed in 2021. His 3.59 season ERA isn't terribly ugly, but if you dig deeper you'll see his stats have ballooned during an awful month of July where he's posted a 7.88 ERA in eight appearances.
His whiff rate and chase rate are near the bottom of the league. The spin-rate on Hand's slider has also dropped off this season. Still, the 31-year-old's experience as a closer excites Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo.
"We've been trying to improve our bullpen and, of course, that's a good move," Montoyo said. "Brad Hand's been a closer for a long time, a good reliever. It's a good add, for sure."
Montoyo says the Blue Jays now have "two closers" in Jordan Romano and Hand—who's expected to join the team Friday. A free-agent-to-be, Hand is an important, yet impermanent addition to a Blue Jays team looking to contend beyond 2021 too.
The Yankees have already poached Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo from the trade market. Minutes after Thursday's game, the Red Sox acquired Kyle Schwarber from the Nationals. If the Blue Jays want to keep up in the AL East arms race, now is the time to make a move.
An upgrade at starting pitcher or a left-handed bat—at third base, preferably— are Toronto's most obvious areas of need and, by all accounts, the Jays are working to get a deal done. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported the Blue Jays were showing "big interest" in Minnesota Twins hurler José Berríos.
Between the trade deadline and the Blue Jays much-anticipated return to Toronto, Friday sets up to be one of the busiest days for Toronto sports in a long while.
Further Reading:
Trade Deadline Wish List: Top Blue Jays Trade Fits
