The Jays’ Bo Bichette breaks out with eighth-inning slam against the Red Sox

By: Mike Wilner - Baseball Columnist, Toronto Star Posted: 8:53 PM CDT Monday, Apr. 25, 2022 Last Modified: 8:57 PM CDT Monday, Apr. 25, 2022

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Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 6-2 win over the Red Sox at Rogers Centre Monday night:

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Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 6-2 win over the Red Sox at Rogers Centre Monday night:

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/04/2022 (1593 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 6-2 win over the Red Sox at Rogers Centre Monday night:

Do you smell salami?

Bo Bichette was in a trough, 2-for-his-last-14 as he stepped in with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth, hitting just .208 for the season and already having grounded into a double play and struck out in what had been a hitless night.

Rick Madonik - Toronto Star
Matt Chapman hit one of three Blue Jays homers Monday against the Boston Red Sox. The third, an eighth-inning grand slam by Bo Bichette, was the difference in Toronto’s 6-2 win. — Rick Madonik - Toronto Star Matt Chapman hit one of three Blue Jays homers Monday against the Boston Red Sox. The third, an eighth-inning grand slam by Bo Bichette, was the difference in Toronto’s 6-2 win.

What better time, then, to hit his first career grand slam?

Bichette hit a 1-0 pitch from Boston rookie Ryan Danish — a 92 miles-per-hour fastball right down the middle — on a line into the Red Sox bullpen beyond the right-field wall to break a 2-2 tie.

Easy breezy

Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi retired the Jays’ first three hitters on five pitches in the first inning, and then turned the trick again in the fourth. The hard-throwing right-hander needed just 72 pitches to get through seven innings but left trailing 2-0, thanks to solo home runs by Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. and Matt Chapman.

José Berríos ran into trouble in the second inning, loading the bases with one out, but he got a first-pitch tapper back to the mound from Christian Arroyo, turned it into an inning-ending double play and was marvellous from that point on.

Berríos retired 15 of the next 16 hitters he faced and pitched into the eighth inning.

The starters’ quick paces made for a game time of 2:16, unheard of since the days of Roy Halladay and Mark Buehrle.

Romano again?

After working three times in the last four days and suffering his first blown save in 32 tries on Sunday in Houston, closer Jordan Romano was up in the bullpen preparing to pitch the ninth inning if the game stayed tied or the Jays took a slim lead.

The Bichette slam got them out of the save situation, so Julian Merryweather came in to finish things up, but it was shocking to see Romano available considering his heavy workload recently.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness