Blue Jays Blow Out Sox AAA Club 12-0

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox ⋅ October 1, 2009 at 2:41pm ⋅ Post a comment

In a game barely worth recapping, the Blue Jays ripped through the Red Sox, winning 12-0 behind ace Roy Halladay. Perhaps making a last pitch (get it?) for the Cy Young Award, Halladay tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout. While incredible, the start wasn’t very impressive, considering the Red Sox threw out a lineup that included only two regulars. In fact, here’s the daunting starting lineup Halladay faced:

Joey Gathright, CF-RF
Josh Reddick, LF
Casey Kotchman, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Rocco Baldelli, RF-3B
George Kottaras, C
Alex Gonzalez, SS
Jed Lowrie, 3B-SS
Chris Woodward, 2B

A complete-game shutout from Halladay should be expected, even with Ortiz (0-3) and Gonzalez (0-2) in the lineup. Would any of you have been surprised if he threw a no-hitter? Would that even be an accomplishment?

So the Red Sox scored zero runs. How did the Jays score 12 runs? Well, Tim Wakefield surrendered five runs on seven hits in three innings pitched in a poor audition to join the Sox playoff roster. Terry Francona trotted out a few clowns from the bullpen, including Fernando Cabrera, who allowed three runs in his one inning of work.

Lefty prospect Dustin Richardson pitched the fifth inning, and his numbers look decent: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB. He didn’t allow a run, but he might as well have allowed 10 runs considering the embarassing incident during the inning. Mid-pitch, Richardson somehow dropped the ball as it flew to his left. He then looked around as if he was hoping no one would notice, but instead he should’ve realized he was playing in front of a packed house at Fenway. On that note, I feel bad for anyone who had the misfortune of attending the game. Refund their tickets, John Henry!

To cap off the evening, fourth catcher Dusty Brown took to the hill in the ninth, and managed to allow just one run on two hits to complete three outs. He miraculously recorded a strikeout, too!

Sox Stud of the Game

What? Someone on the Red Sox had a good game? We’ll give it to Joey Gathright, who was the only starter with more than one hit. He finished 2-4 to push his season batting average to .500.

Sox Dud of the Game

Anyone besides Joey Gathright or Rocco Baldelli (1-4, stolen base) who played would fit the “Dud” criteria. Let’s give it to Terry Francona, who was obviously resting his guys, but the moves made for a real snooze-fest for the 30,000+ who attended the game.

Game Notes

W: Roy Halladay (17-10)
L: Tim Wakefield (11-5)

The Red Sox close out the season with a four-game series against the Indians. If you have any Sox players in your fantasy lineup, I’m sorry. Terry Francona doesn’t care, he’ll rest anybody and everybody who might need it.
Halladay should be in the Cy Young conversation, but I think the vote should come down to Zack Grienke and Felix Hernandez, with Grienke getting it due to his Pedro-like season.