On June 26, the Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays were trailing by one point in the second inning when it started pouring with rain at Fenway Park, delaying the series finale for an extended period of time.
Two months later, they finally managed to complete the second round.
On Monday, August 26, the two American League East rivals picked up right where they left off, albeit with several lineup changes and one very notable, historic exception: Not only was Danny Jansen the starting catcher for Toronto when the game began, but he was also at bat when they pressed pause.
Reese McGuire was Kutter Crawford’s catcher. A month later, the Jays traded Jansen to the Sox, who designated McGuire for assignment to clear a roster spot. This gave Jansen the opportunity to do something none of the other 23,321 players in MLB history had ever accomplished: play for both teams in a single game.
Just after 2 p.m. on Monday, Jansen crouched behind home plate and caught his own at-bat. He had spent his entire professional career in the Toronto organization until the trade. Suddenly, after being drafted in the 16th round in 2013, making his debut in August 2018 and spending seven years with the Blue Jays, he faced his former franchise for the first time and made MLB history in the process.
“Once the game started, I just focused on the game and didn’t really think about it too much, but took a moment beforehand to enjoy it,” Jansen said, adding that it was more meaningful because his wife, children and other family members were in town for the series.
“It was a very cool moment to be a part of,” said Cora. ”I don’t know if it will happen again. It would have to be the perfect storm, starting with the storm.”
But otherwise, it was a frustrating 4-1 loss that the Red Sox would rather forget. Nick Pivetta delivered one of his strongest performances of the season, only to have it undone by the bullpen and the ice-cold offense.
Both teams (combined) failed to get a hit until the fifth inning, and then they died in the most fitting way possible. Early in the inning, center fielder Daulton Varsho, who had taken Jansen’s place in the lineup, stopped Boston’s attack with a single to the Green Monster and was left standing on first base. Then, at the bottom of the inning, Jansen ended Toronto’s no-no attempt with a single to Varsho, only to also be left standing on first base.
“I was hoping it would hit us much sooner,” said Cora.
The symmetry of the interrupted bids was the extent of the game’s funny, odd “will definitely be a trivia question at some point” energy. Pivetta allowed Boston to go six innings, allowing three runs (only two earned) on four hits, striking out 10 and issuing no walks. He retired 14 of his first 15 batters, including the first nine. It was his eighth appearance with at least six innings and no more than three earned runs this year, and the third time in his career that he reached double-digit strikeouts without issuing a walk. And since it was technically a relief appearance, Pivetta also tied Dick Radatz, who holds the franchise record for relief appearances with eight or more strikeouts (4).
“His fastball was really good,” Cora said. “He was aggressive in the zone, a lot of swing-and-misses.”
Ryan Yarbrough was often hit hard by Boston’s bats as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays’ rotation, but he followed the example of Blue Jays opener Ryan Burr and held the Sox scoreless for 3.1 innings.
“There’s not much going on right now,” Cora said of the Sox offense. “We put pressure on (Yarbrough) in the sixth inning, but it just didn’t work out. Things aren’t going well for us right now.”
The sixth was the only inning in which Boston had multiple baserunners. Pinch hitters Romy Gonzalez and Tyler O’Neil hit a double and a walk with one out, allowing Rafael Devers, who threw a groundout, to put two baserunners on base. It was originally ruled a single, catcher’s error and run with no RBI, but it was quickly changed and Devers was out for batter’s interference. After a pitcher change, Rob Refsnyder hit a groundout and left the runners standing.
The missed opportunity immediately took its toll on Boston, as George Springer hit a solo home run 416 feet over the monster in the seventh inning to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead, and Toronto clinched the win in the eighth. With one out, Brian Serven and Spencer Horwitz reached first base on a single and an error by first baseman Triston Casas, knocking Pivetta out of the game. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. greeted Red Sox relief pitcher Luis García with a double into the right field corner, and both runs were scored when O’Neill followed up. Addison Barger followed with a ground-rule double into the same corner, bringing Guerrero home to make it 4-0 before García could escape the pinch.
Jarren Duran made sure the Red Sox were not shut out, at least. His 18th home run of the year just crossed the line at the top of the monster. On June 26, it would have been number 8 and would have shown how much power he has unleashed since the beginning of the summer.
That was all the Red Sox could manage. With two outs in the ninth inning, Masataka Yoshida missed a Hail Mary home run by a few feet. He settled for a double, then stood on second base and watched as Jansen struck out with a flourish, bringing one of the strangest and most unique games in baseball history to a frustrating end.
“It’s been like this for a while,” Cora said of the offensive dry spell. “Every pitch counts, every hit counts. We just need to make sure we slow down.”
“I don’t know if it’s the pressure or just our good pitching, we’re just… we’re better than that. We know that, and right now we’re not in a good phase. We’re going to change that.”
The official scorecard of the game will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jansen also wore several jerseys during the game and said he might send one to Cooperstown, too.
“I don’t think I’ve fully grasped it yet,” he said. “I’ll tell you what, I was a little surprised when I found out I was the first person to do it. It’s cool. To put that stamp on the game is interesting and weird, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to do that. Ultimately, it’s a cool thing.”
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