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TORONTO — They stumbled and fumbled and suffered brain cramps while running the bases.
Third baseman Troy Glaus even lost what will be recorded in the record books as a ground ball — in the lights, if you can believe that.
The Toronto Blue Jays, major-league baseball's version of the Keystone Kops, invaded the open-lidded confines of the Rogers Centre last night and high comedy was the result.
It was the Boston Red Sox who had the biggest laugh, pasting Toronto for the third time in as many American League games, this one an embarrassing 8-0 waltz, sending the Blue Jays, 13-21, crashing to their ninth consecutive loss.
Boston starter Tim Wakefield pitched seven shutout innings at the Rogers Centre. (Nathan Denette/CP)
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- Boston Red Sox
- J.D. Drew
- Troy Glaus
- Roy Halladay
- Adam Lind
- Mike Lowell
- Shaun Marcum
- Doug Mirabelli
- Hideki Okajima
- David Ortiz
- Manny Ramirez
- J.C. Romero
- B.J. Ryan
- Frank Thomas
- Tim Wakefield
- Vernon Wells
- Kevin Youkilis
- Victor Zambrano
In sweeping the three-game series from Toronto, the Red Sox outscored the Jays 26-5.
Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield picked up the easy win for Boston, throwing seven innings of three-hit ball.
From the Blue Jays' perspective, there was nothing remotely amusing about another frightful outing from Roy Halladay, the ace of the staff, who is suddenly struggling as mightily as the team.
Halladay was bludgeoned for the second consecutive game, lasting only five innings and giving up all eight runs on 11 hits.
In his previous start, last Saturday in Texas, Halladay gave up 12 hits and nine runs over 5 1/3 innings in an 11-4 victory by the Rangers.
"Truthfully, at this point, Doc's the least of my worries," said a sombre John Gibbons, the Toronto manager. "You know they're [the Red Sox] swinging the bats and they're hot right now and we're as cold as we can get."
It was an all-round rotten day for the Toronto organization, which earlier learned that B.J. Ryan, their star closer, had undergone elbow surgery and is lost for the season.
His jersey, number 52, was hanging in the Toronto dugout for last night's game, a simple acknowledgment of his importance to the team.
The Jays were counting on Halladay, who was looking for his 100th career win, to provide the team with the big lift it so desperately needed, but he couldn't deliver.
"I'm healthy now," said Halladay, now 4-2 on the year. "I'm just not making pitches, that's the bottom line."
Halladay did not help his own cause in the first inning when he made a wild throw to second base in an attempt to pick off Kevin Youkilis, who scampered over to third on the error. Youkilis then came in to score on a groundout by David Ortiz that moved Boston in front 1-0.
The follies continued for the Jays during their first at-bat, beginning with Vernon Wells.
Wells lashed a one-out single to right field, but slipped on the plate and fell. Wells was able to pick himself up and still make it safely to first base. "That was not attractive," he said later.
Adam Lind, who had batted before Wells and singled to right, went to third base on the play.
And when Wakefield walked Glaus to load the bases for designated hitter Frank Thomas, the Jays suddenly had a promising inning going.
But Thomas struck out and Doug Mirabelli, the Boston catcher, caught Glaus napping at first base.
After the pitch, Mirabelli noticed that Glaus had strayed a little too far from the bag and he rifled a throw to Youkilis from his knees. Youkilis applied the tag to complete the double play and end the inning.
That was nothing compared with the onslaught that awaited Halladay in the third inning, in which the Red Sox sent 10 batters to the plate. They totalled seven hits and six more runs, sending Boston in front 7-0. The big blast came from Mike Lowell, a three-run home run to left field.
Just when you thought the comedy was complete, Boston's Julio Lugo struck a high chopper off the turf down the third-base line in the fourth inning that looked like a routine play for Glaus.
At the last moment, Glaus tensed up after he lost the ball in the lights and the ball bounded past him into left field, and Lugo had a base hit.
