Gosuke Katoh’s first MLB hit highlights an otherwise miserable night for the Jays against the Red Sox

By: Mike Wilner - Baseball Columnist, Toronto Star Posted: 9:48 PM CDT Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2022 Last Modified: 9:52 PM CDT Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2022

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Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 7-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday:

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Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 7-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday:

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/04/2022 (1290 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 7-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday:

Who’s on firsts?

Jays second baseman Gosuke Katoh, making his third career start, jumped on an 0-and-1 cutter from Michael Wacha in the fourth inning and drove it into the gap in left-centre for a double, his first major-league hit. The 27-year-old Katoh — drafted by the New York Yankees in 2013 — had already notched a couple of walks, and his on-base percentage is now .429.

Christopher Katsarov - THE CANADIAN PRESS
Blue Jay George Springer, right, jokes with teammate Gosuke Katoh, who recorded his long-awaited first career major-league hit in the fourth inning on Wednesday night. — Christopher Katsarov - THE CANADIAN PRESS Blue Jay George Springer, right, jokes with teammate Gosuke Katoh, who recorded his long-awaited first career major-league hit in the fourth inning on Wednesday night.

Toronto righty Bowden Francis made his major-league debut in the ninth, coming in with runners on the corners and one out. He gave up an RBI double to Rob Refsnyder on his first pitch, but rebounded to strike out the next hitter, Enrique Hernandez, and then get a ground ball to end the inning.

Dead-ball era

Whether it’s just the Rogers Centre humidor or something more nefarious, the ball just doesn’t seem to be flying the way it has in the past.

In the second inning, Raimel Tapia hit a long fly ball to deep right field and Zack Collins did the same in the sixth. Both balls could easily have been expected to reach the seats, but both were caught at the wall by right-fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. followed Collins’ shot with an absolute rocket of his own at 105.8 miles per hour off the bat. It didn’t have the height to get out, but it should have been off the wall, at least. Bradley caught that one, too.

Rough relief

With the offence firing blanks, the bullpen was working with no margin for error and couldn’t put up a clean sheet.

Trent Thornton was first out of the chute behind Ross Stripling, who was terrific over five innings. Thornton came in having allowed just one run on four hits over nine innings all season, but gave up singles to the first three batters he faced. Two of them would score to put the Jays behind for good.

Julian Merryweather gave up a couple in the eighth and Andrew Vasquez, making his Jays debut, got tagged for a pair in the ninth.

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