TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk is perhaps the hottest hitter in all of baseball so it makes some sense that opposing pitchers might try to get in his kitchen. The Boston Red Sox certainly did right from the jump this week at Rogers Centre, with Connor Seabold hitting him on the left elbow in the third inning of Monday’s series opener before buzzing him again two innings later. Two other pitches missed well inside, too.
Kirk only saw two pitches in delivering a pinch-hit single during a leverage ninth Tuesday night, so there was no opportunity for brinksmanship there. But starter Nick Pivetta was back at it Wednesday, just missing him with a 94.4 m.p.h. fastball that was his second pitch of the second inning before hitting him right on the left elbow with the first pitch of their clash in the third.
While Kirk, his usual stoic self, turned away from Pivetta as he was checked on by trainer Jose Ministral, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had seen enough. He made a get out of here gesture with his hand and became increasingly angry as the right-hander from Victoria engaged, using bad-manners language to say he wasn’t trying to hit Kirk and that Guerrero should promptly cease the discussion.
That sent Guerrero charging toward the field, prompting the Toronto Blue Jays, led by George Springer, to funnel the star first baseman back toward the dugout, while the Red Sox dragged Pivetta back behind the mound. The engagement peaked at angry words but the point had been made – Kirk wasn’t brushed back again for the rest of the night.
Warnings issued to both clubs ensured there was no retribution from Alek Manoah and the rest of the Blue Jays, who rallied late to force extra innings but were undone by their thin bullpen during a messy 10th in falling 6-5.
David Phelps walked his first two batters to force the bases loaded before hitting J.D. Martinez to force in the go-ahead run. Tim Mayza then took over and after inducing a 3-2-3 double play that nearly limited the damage, he surrendered a two-run double to Alex Verdugo that opened things up.
The Blue Jays nearly came back a second time in the bottom half as a two-out RBI single by Santiago Espinal and run-scoring double by Cavan Biggio made it a one-run game, but Matt Strahm, in his second inning of work, got Springer to pop out, allowing the Red Sox avoid a three-game sweep.
The Blue Jays’ lack of bullpen depth was also exposed Tuesday night when they blew a late 4-2 lead but Guerrero’s walk-off single in the ninth helped cover that. Veteran Sergio Romo was activated after his passing his physical Wednesday and GM Ross Atkins noted that his addition “isn’t something that is going to stop us from continuing to look to improve this team.”
“I think any team in contention can add to your bullpen and every team in contention is probably going to be looking to do that, as will we,” Atkins added later while also pointing out that right now, more than a month away from the Aug. 2 trade deadline, “teams don’t want to pay large premiums for players for moving just to move.”
Manoah again was a force on the mound over seven mostly overpowering innings, his main blemish a two-run homer by Alex Verdugo on a middle-middle heater after a Xander Bogaerts infield single that put the Red Sox up 3-2 in the sixth.
The only other run against him came on a Rob Refsnyder sacrifice fly in the third, cashing in Franchy Cordero who had earlier reached third base when Kirk threw away an attempt to catch him stealing.
Manoah cleverly worked out of a two on, none-out jam in the fifth and by going deep yet again, helping to preserve the bullpen ahead of a Yusei Kikuchi start in Thursday’s series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Pivetta, meanwhile, largely kept the Blue Jays in check, giving up a Santiago Espinal RBI single that opened the scoring in the second and a Springer solo shot in the fifth that put the Blue Jays up 2-1.
Raimel Tapia’s RBI double in the eighth tied things up 3-3 and set the stage for the dramatic end.
