FORT MYERS, Fla. – A six-run Blue Jays comeback in the ninth cost the Red Sox the win in their first home game of spring training on Sunday, but they won big in the ways that will count when the regular-season begins.
Namely Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman, who impressed in their respective Red Sox debuts.
The early innings of the 8-7 loss, which took more than three hours to complete, were all about the left-hander and infielder, who are two of the biggest offseason additions the club has made in years.
Crochet’s start was sweet, but due to a pitch limit and lengthy time in between innings, shorter than he hoped. In 1 ⅔ innings, he allowed three hits, one walk, and struck out four; he threw 27 pitches, 17 for strikes.
“His stuff’s electric,” Bregman lauded. “Facing him the last few years, he’s been fun to watch, difficult to face, so I’m glad I’m on his team.”
Crochet blew the Jays away in the first, striking out three and walking one, but gave up a leadoff double, and back-to-back one-out singles in the next frame.
Nevertheless, the southpaw came away from his first start pleased with himself and appreciative of the atmosphere.
“(I) feel like I was rushing a little bit, but even still I felt like my stuff played really well,” Crochet said. “Threw a sweeper for a double but I liked the shape, so I’m really happy with that, and the cutter was good.”
“Having a good fun turnout helped a lot,” he added of the sold-out crowd. “That’s probably the most people I’ve thrown in front of in spring training, so it’s cool to kind of get the juices going early.”
The “jitters” Bregman said he felt were evident to him and him alone. Batting second and starting at third base, he went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer and double.
In his first at-bat, Bregman sent the fifth pitch soaring high but not deep, forcing several Blue Jays to converge in shallow center-field where the ball landed softly in the grass between them while he stood on first with a single. He outdid himself in the following frame, homering to the top of the Green Monster to extend the lead to 3-0. He nearly homered again in his third and final at-bat, but the ball hooked foul at the Fisk Pole in the left-field corner. He settled for a double high off the Monster, instead.
“It felt great,” Bregman said of the home run. “Kind of breaks the ice on spring training.”
Bregman has thrived in Boston throughout his career, getting on-base at the second-best clip of any player in MLB history with at least 75 plate appearances at the ballpark. With JetBlue Park built to the exact dimensions of Fenway Park, Sunday was a preview of how well his bat fits the Green Monster. (In fact, the Florida wall is actually several feet taller than the original back home.)
“He can hit in other places,” Cora reminded. “But yeah, I mean this is what he does. … It’s a different at-bat. He will take pitches, he will hit with two strikes, he’ll take his walks, he will swing less than most of the guys here, which is great. I think we needed that. And he’s going to balance the lineup.”
Bregman was far from the only big-leaguer debuting in Sunday’s starting nine; Triston Casas, Trevor Story, and Rob Refsnyder batted after Bregman in the lineup.
Thanks to the funky spring training rules, Yariel Rodriguez made a split start for the Blue Jays, going 1 ⅓ innings and giving up two earned runs on three hits, two walks, and striking out two. He threw 40 pitches, 20 for strikes.
Rodriguez couldn’t get out of the first inning, giving up back-to-back singles to Roman Anthony and Bregman before recording the first out, a strikeout to Triston Casas. Story followed with an RBI double to drive in the first run of the game. When David Hamilton walked to load the bases, the Blue Jays swapped Rodriguez for Nick Fraze, who got Ceddanne Rafaela to fly out to end the inning.
Spring training rules are different, though. Rodriguez was back on the mound for the bottom of the second, but his second time around was even shorter. With one on – Nate Eaton, who walked and stole second – and two out, Jays manager John Schneider pulled his starter for the second time.
Bregman’s homer came moments later off Rodriguez’s second replacement, Andrew Bash.
Gabriel Jackson, Josh Winckowski, Zack Kelly, Greg Weissert, Richard Fitts, Austin Adams, Zach Fogell, and Jack Anderson pitched the rest of the way for the Red Sox.
In the top of the ninth the Jays took Fogell for six earned runs on three hits, two walks, and he exited having only recorded one out.
Trailing for the first time in the game, the Red Sox attempted to rally in the bottom of the inning, putting up another two runs before defeat finally took over. They finished the day with 11 hits, four walks, and nine strikeouts. The Blue Jays struck out 16 times but thanks to their ninth-inning barrage, collected 14 hits and six walks.
The Red Sox paid tribute to the late Luis Tiant in a pregame ceremony with his family and former teammates, Dwight Evans and Jim Rice, on Sunday. They also honored the beloved pitcher with a new decal on the outfield wall in his honor: a large red heart with ‘El Tiante’ written on top. They’ll have the same design at Fenway Park for the upcoming season.
Have you ever seen a 6-4-2 double play that ended at first base? The Red Sox turned a rarity on Sunday, when Mark Kolozsvary raced to first to complete the out.