Nightmare eighth inning dooms Red Sox in fifth straight loss

Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald on Aug 12, 2026

Published in Baseball

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The Boston Red Sox will be glad to see their season series against the Blue Jays come to an end on Thursday afternoon in Toronto.

That, at least, has a hard stop. There is no expiration date on Boston’s sudden, astounding unraveling. The losing streak reached five Wednesday night when the Red Sox took a tied 1-1 game into the bottom of the eighth, gave up five runs to 10 men, then finally threatened in the ninth only to fall 6-4.

It’s a shocking turn of events for a club that entered this losing streak without so much as back-to-back losses since July 1.

Starter Ranger Suarez did an admirable job of keeping Boston in the game with five-innings of one-run ball. The Blue Jays had traffic in each of the Sox southpaw’s last four innings, including taking a 1-0 lead on a one-out double by designated Kazuma Okamoto and two-out first-pitch single by Ernie Clement in the second, but they failed to add on in subsequent opportunities; they were 1 for 4 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base during Suarez’s outing. He allowed six hits, walked one and struck out two on 81 pitches (54 strikes).

Suarez’s start ended in dramatic fashion. The Blue Jays were threatening, with men on first and second after back-to-back one-out singles by Charles McAdoo and Brett Bateman. But first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined a ball to right field, also known as Wilyer Abreu’s kingdom. Boston’s back-to-back Gold Glove right-fielder, who is all but guaranteed to extend his winning streak to three this year, made a feet-first sliding catch and throw to first in time for an inning-ending double play.

Boston entered Wednesday’s contest 3 for 36 with runners in scoring position, and with 38 men left on base over their four-game losing streak. Those struggles persisted on Wednesday night.

Toronto starter José Soriano pitched six innings with just one earned run on four hits, two walks and four strikeouts, on 90 pitches (63 strikes).

Soriano had a no-hitter until Ceddanne Rafaela’s one-out single in the fourth, and faced the minimum until Willson Contreras led off the fifth with a home run.

Yet Rafaela wasted his fourth-inning single, trying to advance all the way to third base on a wild pitch by Soriano. And though Contreras’ 408-foot blast to left-center tied the game and matched his career-high 24 homers in 2019, it could not awaken the slumbering, slumping Red Sox lineup.

Boston’s best chance came in the top of the sixth. Nick Sogard led off with a single, and Soriano issued a two-out walk to Adley Rutschman, but Contreras grounded out to end the inning.

Andruw Monasterio led off the eighth with a single, and advanced to third thanks to back-to-back groundouts by Sogard and Masataka Yoshida. Like the small number of Red Sox base runners before him, Monasterio stood stranded, as Rafaela popped out to Guerrero in foul territory.

The game collapsed in the bottom of the eighth as Tyron Guerrero faced five batters and exited without recording an out. The Blue Jays greeted the hard-throwing righty with back-to-back singles by Guerrero and catcher Alejandro Kirk, who was replaced with pinch-runner Brandon Valenzuela. Contreras missed the opportunity to record the first out when Okamoto fouled a ball in his direction, and the DH capitalized by singling to score Guerrero.

Things went from bad to worse after a mound visit. Guerrero intentionally walked Andres Gimenez to load the bases, then battled through a nine-pitch face-off with Clement. The Blue Jays second baseman

Rookie left-hander Alec Gamboa, called up from Triple-A Worcester Wednesday, allowed all three inherited runners to score. Pinch-hitter George Springer made the first out with an RBI sacrifice fly, and center fielder Myles Straw doubled to score two. The Blue Jays threatened further damage; McAdoo singled to put runners on the corners before Gamboa retired Bateman on a pop-out, and got Guerrero to fly out in his second at-bat of the inning.

The game seemed miles out of reach when right-hander Matt Waldron took the mound for the top of the ninth. But the Red Sox threatened in earnest at last. Waldron opened the frame with a strikeout-looking to Rutschman, then walked Contreras. Abreu’s 24th double advanced Contreras to third, and a first-pitch RBI single by Caleb Durbin scored Boston’s second run of the night.

Jarren Duran’s 13th double of the season brought Abreu home to cut Toronto’s lead to three, and forced the Blue Jays to use star closer Louis Varland. Monasterio’s sacrifice fly scored yet another run, but Varland prevented further damage with a game-winning groundout from Sogard.

More bad news arrived postgame when interim manager Chad Tracy explained why Garrett Whitlock did not pitch the eighth. Boston’s dominant setup man is dealing with elbow inflammation on and off, Tracy told reporters.

The season series wraps up Thursday at 3:07 p.m. ET.

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