Of all the ways Saturday’s game could’ve gone, it couldn’t have gone much worse than it did.
On Saturday, the Toronto Blue Jays played the second of three against the Boston Red Sox, falling 15-1 to move their season record to 44-38. This was the second blowout of the series, as the Blue Jays defeated the Red Sox 9-0 on Friday. Let’s take a look at what happened in this one.
After Chris Bassitt got the first two out in the bottom of the first, he allowed back-to-back singles. They were cashed in thanks to Wilyer Abreu’s first-pitch home run to give the Red Sox an early 3-0 lead, a precursor for what was to come.
Wilyer Abreu tucks a three-run homer around the Pesky Pole. pic.twitter.com/3kXTkm1BI0
— MLB (@MLB) June 28, 2025
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Abreu punished the Jays again in the bottom of the second, as he hit a double with two runners on to give the Sox a 4-0 lead. The next batter up, Trevor Story, hit a two-run single to give them a 6-0 lead.
The Jays scored their only run in the top of the third, a Myles Straw reached on a fielding error and was cashed in by Addison Barger. But that was short-lived, as the Red Sox added another three runs in the bottom of the third, capped off by a throwing error by Alejandro Kirk.
Boston kept piling on the runs, as Nick Sogard hit an RBI single, followed by Ceddanne Rafaela’s ninth home run of the season. In the bottom of the seventh, Romy Gonzalez hit a two-run home run to make it 14-1, and Canadian Abraham Toro hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to make it 15-1.
Ceddanne Rafaela over The Monster
Six different @RedSox have driven in a run today. pic.twitter.com/xt5psMvZYu
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Takeaways…
Anyway that you slice the game, it wasn’t a good one for the Blue Jays. One of the few positives is that Braydon Fisher still has a 0 ERA coming out of the bullpen, as he threw two innings with no earned runs given up by him. That said, he walked in a run, gave up a sacrifice fly, and Alejandro Kirk made a throwing error for three of Chris Bassitt’s runs to score.
Speaking of Bassitt, it was a tough day for the veteran righty, as he gave up nine runs, eight earned, in two-plus innings pitched. He also walked four batters and struck out three, as his ERA jumped to 4.29.
Paxton Schultz pitched an inning and a third, giving up three earned runs. Mason Fluharty’s struggles also continued, as he gave up two earned runs in his inning and two-thirds. By the time the bottom of the eighth rolled around, the Jays were well out of the game.
They turned to catcher Tyler Heineman to pitch in the bottom of the eighth. On just his second pitch, he “hit” Jarren Duran, who made absolutely no effort to move out of the way. That rule needs to be enforced better. Duran scored on a sacrifice fly.
Even if the pitching was good, it wouldn’t have mattered much as their offence was essentially non-existent. Addison Barger’s 18th home run of the season was the team’s lone extra-base hit. Bo Bichette, Will Wagner, Alejandro Kirk, George Springer, and Ernie Clement had the other hits, all singles. Nathan Lukes walked twice.
This is a game the Blue Jays just need to flush away. While it was a humiliating loss, a 1-0 loss and a 15-1 loss count for the same, and they have a chance to win the series on Sunday afternoon. Eric Lauer is expected to start, with the first pitch coming at 1:35.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.