With every sports fan in New England glued to their television watching the Boston Celtics play Game 3 of their playoff series against the Toronto Raptors, Martin Perez put together the best start any pitcher on the Boston Red Sox has had this year, throwing six innings of no-hit baseball.
When OG Anunoby's buzzer-beating 3-pointer ripped Celtics fans' hearts out of their chests, they had an actual reason to flip over to watch Red Sox baseball. Watching Perez no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays wouldn't heal the wound of the Celtics' loss, but it would be a way to dull the pain.
It only made things worse.
About the same time the Raptors celebrated their dramatic win is right about when Perez gave up his first hit. Then the Blue Jays got on the board. Then Ryan Braiser's delectable walk/wild pitch combo happened in the eighth, tying the game. You knew what was coming next. This is 2020, after all.
It took a little longer than expected, but with one mighty swing of Teoscar Hernandez's bat, what started off as the Red Sox's best game of the season ended in a 6-2 loss that really encapsulated what has come to be expected from the Sox.
There was no drama in extra innings.
Phillips Valdez came out to pitch the 10th inning while Toronto's Derek Fisher walked out to second base, per MLB's new extra-inning rules. Valdez walked Cavan Biggio, Michael Chavis bobbled a potential double-play ball but got an out at first, putting runners on second and third with one out.
That left quite the dilemma for manager Ron Roenicke. Do you have Valdez pitch to Hernandez, who could swing blindfolded at this point and not miss, or walk him and face Vlad Guerrero Jr., a certifiable masher of baseballs, with Lourdes Gurriel Jr., also someone who destroys pitches for a living, right behind him?
They chose "A," and whoa boy was that not the call. Hernandez took a long cut that made the kind of sound you hear when a ball's got a better chance of turning into a square than staying in the ballpark. It found the bullpen in right field for the only runs that mattered, with Gurriel's homer two batters later only rubbing salt in the wound that's been the 2020 season.
It was a shame because it really erased from the mind what could have been a wonderful night for Perez.
With no one watching in the stands _ and likely few watching at home thanks to the Celtics' game _ Perez was trying to provide Fenway at least one memorable moment this season.
He spotted his pitches well and threw a change-up that brushed corners like a street sweeper. The closest he got to trouble came in the fourth when he walked Guerrero with two outs. Chavis took a bad route getting to a routine pop fly by Gurriel Jr. and dropped the ball, but was granted a reprieve when Guerrero decided, for some unknown reason, to try and score. Chavis threw him out by plenty.
Perez got through the fifth and sixth without giving up a hit and the no-hit watch was officially on. It ended just as quick when Hernandez screamed one out toward the Monster on the second pitch of the seventh inning.
Perez almost survived the inning, but a two-out Joe Panik single scored Hernandez, ending his night. The Jays almost got another run, but Austin Brice hit Red Sox killer Rowdy Tellez to load the bases before striking out Travis Shaw to close the inning.
The eighth inning didn't end as friendly.
Ryan Braiser came in for Brice _ who gave up a leadoff double to Biggio and walked Randall Grichuk _ and couldn't have started worse. Braiser got called for a balk on a botched pickoff move, then threw a wild pitch that brought home Biggio for the tying run.
Boston's offense could have done some favors for Perez, but the Sox were shut down by Taljuan Walker.
Walker missed on a cutter to Jackie Bradley Jr. in the second that was promptly deposited over the right field wall. After that, Walker kept the Red Sox quiet as the pitchers exchanged zeroes on the scoreboard.
In the sixth, Walker pitched himself into a jam with back-to-back two-out walks to J.D. Martinez and Christian Vazquez, loading the bases and getting himself removed from the game. Turned out to be a poor decision because Anthony Kay walked Bradley Jr., scoring Rafael Devers to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.
The Red Sox didn't have many chances to score. Spotted a runner at second in the 10th with the new rules, Boston couldn't get that run across the plate.
It was just that kind of night.
