Blue Jays vs. Red Sox: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s surprise appearance gets the ball rolling in Boston

Hamilton Spectator

5 hours ago

The
Blue Jays
went into Boston and put a beating on the Red Sox, rolling to a 9-0 win — their second straight shutout — at Fenway Park on Friday night. Here's what you need to know:
Lost in the offensive outburst was a brilliant outing
by José Berríos.
The right-hander threw seven innings of four-hit shutout, while striking out eight against only one walk in picking up his fourth win of the season. He allowed only two runners as far as second base.
The Jays built an early picket fence with single runs in each of the first three innings, then tacked on a bunch late.
George Springer
and Andrés Giménez had three hits each, and
Ernie Clement reached base five times
with two singles and three walks.
Last-minute Vladdy
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
was not in the original starting lineup after
exiting Thursday's game in Cleveland with a right forearm contusion
, the result of being hit by a pitch in that spot for the second time in four plate appearances. But about an hour before the game, Guerrero was inserted into the lineup and contributed immediately with a two-out single in the first inning. He quickly stole second and scored the game's first run on a Springer single.
Clement's impact
Clement also made a big early impact, going into the third-base camera bay to haul in a foul pop-up by Jarren Duran to begin the bottom of the first. He led off the second with a walk and eventually scored on a
Bo Bichette single,
blowing through
third-base coach Carlos Febles'
stop sign, then singled in a run in the third. The 29-year-old is hitting .406 over his past 26 games.
No relief
The Red Sox turned to Brennan Bernardino with two on in the seventh inning and trailing 4-0, but he didn't provide much relief. The left-hander issued an intentional walk to Clement to load the bases, then walked Giménez to force in a run. In the eighth, Bernardino gave up two singles and issued two more walks. All four runners wound up scoring, the last two on a Giménez single off Jorge Alcala.
JanetInYYC found me @wilnerness on Bluesky to ask:
'Is Bo the best leadoff hitter? He swings at the first pitch so often which seems antithetical to the leadoff role.'
It's true, Janet, he does, but not as much as you think, I'll bet. This season, Bichette has swung at the first pitch in 33.8 per cent of his plate appearances. We think of the first batter as someone who takes a lot of pitches, works an at-bat and walks a ton. Bo doesn't do two of those things. But while Bichette doesn't walk much, he is often a very tough out. He tends to extend his at-bats by fouling off a bucket of balls, some of which are off the plate, rather than taking close pitches and staying disciplined.
Going into Friday's game, Bichette was seeing an average of 3.58 pitchers per plate appearance, slightly below the major-league average of 3.87. Springer is the only Blue Jay above average at 3.97, but he has settled beautifully into the middle of the order.
It should be noted, though, that when Bichette puts the first pitch in play he is a career .363 hitter, so it seems to be working pretty well for him.