Toronto Blue Jays runner Travis Snider scores on a sacrifice fly past Boston Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez (L) during the first inning of their MLB American League baseball game in Toronto August 11, 2010.MARK BLINCH/Reuters
When Shaun Marcum says that the best pitch he threw all game was a ball four in the first inning that walked in Boston's first run, it kind of gives you an idea of how things went for the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.
The normally precise Toronto starter was off all game and that smacked of bad news for the Blue Jays, who were hoping to use the three-game series against the Boston Red Sox to leap back into the American League wild-card playoff race.
Instead, the Blue Jays (59-54) are headed in the other direction in the aftermath of a 10-1 thumping at the hands of the Red Sox (66-49) before 28,308 fans at Rogers Centre.
The loss was the second in a row to Boston, who have owned the Blue Jays this season, winning nine of 11 games.
The Red Sox will be going for the sweep when the two teams meet Thursday afternoon.
With the two losses to Boston, the Blue Jays are now 9.5-games off the pace for the wild-card playoff berth, an almost impossible dream with just two months left in the regular season.
Marcum said the Boston setbacks are even harder to take given that the Blue Jays were coming off a huge lift after sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in Toronto over the weekend.
"Pretty deflating," Marcum said. "This is one series we needed to win. We're playing teams ahead of us the rest of the year it seems so we kind of control our own destiny if we want to be in it in towards the end of September.
"We've got to come out and win series and win ballgames, especially against the guys ahead of us."
Marcum's mettle was tested early with home plate umpire Greg Gibson's squeezing the strike zone to postage-stamp size.
Marcum was uncharacteristically wild from the outset with two walks and a hit-batsman in the first inning to load the bases for Boston with two out.
Mike Lowell then ran the count to 3-2 when Marcum appeared to paint the outer edge of the plate with a cutter that he thought should have been called third strike.
Gibson disagreed and Lowell had himself a walk that forced in the first run for a 1-0 Boston lead.
"It was one of those days, I didn't locate anything at all," Marcum said. "I felt like the best pitch I made was the one that I walked Lowell on. I felt like that was the only quality pitch I made all night.
"Other than that, just got to get better. Mechanics felt off a little bit, but that's no excuse, still got to make pitches and try to find a way to grind out some innings."
The Blue Jays would draw even in the home half of the first with Travis Snider scoring from third on a sacrifice fly by Jose Bautista.
After that it was all Boston, led by Bill Hall, who stroked his first of two home runs in the second inning that moved the Red Sox back in front 2-1.
Hall had a field day, going three for four with four RBIs.
Hall also belted a two-run homer in the fourth before the Red Sox turned it into a laugher in the five-run fifth, an inning punctuated by a couple more home runs by J.D. Drew and a two-run shot by Adrian Beltre, his 21st of the season.
Marcum (10-6), lasted just four-plus innings, allowing eight of the Boston runs off seven hits.
It made for a rather easy night for Clay Buchholz, the Boston starter, who threw eight strong innings to improve to 13-5.