© David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Ray Fends off Red Sox at Fenway
Robbie Ray's first changeup of the afternoon spun off his fingers and into the zone.
Kevin Plawecki, the Red Sox designated hitter, threw his hands at the pitch and popped a line drive down the left field line. The ball bounced into the Fenway Park stands for a ground-rule double, moving runners to second and third. A walk loaded the bases and Ray was in trouble with no outs in the second.
But Ray worked his way back. He quickly punched out Michael Chavis, before battling to strike out Kiké Hernandez. After another full count battle, Rafael Devers flied out to center to end the threat.
As Ray walked off the mound he smacked his glove, clenched his fists and yelled—glad to exorcise his frustration and fired up to work out of a jam.
"After that second inning, getting out with no runs, that was a huge momentum boost, not just for the team, but for me as well," Ray said. "It was a moment for me to just say, 'Alright, this is the day it's going to be, I'm going to grind this out.'"
The Red Sox ran him ragged, forcing Ray to throw 107 pitches through six innings, but he was able to tip-toe around danger all afternoon in the 4-1 Blue Jays win.
It was that kind of afternoon for the Blue Jays lefty, who fought through a defensive misplay in the fifth inning that saw a fly ball get lost in the sun.
"It definitely felt like I had to will my way through this one and really dig deep and go out there and pull my team out of it in those situations," Ray said.
The 29-year-old didn't have his most spectacular stuff—three walks juiced his pitch count—but he still racked up eight strikeouts. Ray showed incredible determination and shut Boston out from the first inning on—an imperative first step, given the shortened nature of Wednesday afternoon's ballgame.
Toronto initially took the lead off the bat of Randal Grichuk. In the fourth inning, Grichuk patiently fouled off sliders, looking for something else. When the fastball came, he was ready. With his signature short stroke, Grichuk muscled a 408-foot home run to deep center field.
The Blue Jays right fielder drove in three runs, George Springer homered, and with Ray's resilient outing on the bump, Toronto snatched Game One versus Boston.
