Jansen makes 'interesting and strange' MLB history but Red Sox fall to Blue Jays

BOSTON — On June 26, the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays were one out into the second when rain began to pour down on Fenway Park, sending the series finale into a lengthy delay.

Two months later, they were finally able to complete the top of the second.

On Monday, Aug. 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 had Danny Jansen been the starting catcher for Toronto when the game began, he’d been at bat when they pressed pause.

Reese McGuire was catching Kutter Crawford. A month later, the Jays traded Jansen to the Sox, who designated McGuire for assignment in order to clear a roster spot. Doing so created the opportunity for Jansen to do something none of the other 23,321 players in MLB history had ever done: play for both teams in a single game.

Just after 2 p.m. on Monday, Jansen crouched behind home plate, catching his own at-bat. Until the trade, he’d had spent his entire professional career in the Toronto organization. Suddenly, after being drafted in the 16th round in 2013, debuting in August 2018, and spending seven years in Blue Jays blue, he was facing his former franchise for the first time and making MLB history in the process.

“Once the game started, just kind of locked it in for the game and didn’t really think about it much, but took a moment to enjoy it before,” Jansen said, adding that 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 it,” Cora said. “I don’t know if it’s gonna happen again. It has to be kind of like the perfect storm for that to happen, starting with the storm.”

But it was an otherwise frustrating 4-1 loss the Red Sox would just as soon forget. Nick Pivetta turned in one of his strongest performances of the season, only to have it blown up by the bullpen and ice-cold offense.

Both teams took (combined) no-hit bids into the fifth, at which time they died in the most fitting fashion. In the top of the inning, center-fielder Daulton Varsho, who’d taken Jansen’s spot in the lineup, broke up Boston’s with a one-out single off the Green Monster, and was stranded on first. Then, in the bottom of the frame, Jansen ended Toronto’s no-no endeavor with a single to Varsho, only to be left on first as well.

“I was hoping that we’d get the hit a lot earlier than that,” Cora said.

The symmetry of the broken bids was the extent of the fun, weird, “will definitely be a trivia question someday” energy of the game. Pivetta gave Boston six innings, allowed three runs (only two earned) on four hits, struck out 10, and didn’t issue a walk. He retired 14 of his first 15 batters, including the first nine. It was his eighth outing of at least six innings with 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 as it was technically a relief appearance, Pivetta also tied Dick Radatz for 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, lot of swing-and-misses.”

Ryan Yarbrough had often been hit hard by the Boston bats when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays’ rotation. But he followed Blue Jays opener Ryan Burr’s suit and held the Sox scoreless for 3 1/3 innings.

“Not much happening right now,” Cora said of the Sox offense. “We put pressure on (Yarbrough) in the sixth, it just didn’t happen. Right now, it’s not happening for us.”

The sixth was the only frame in which Boston had multiple baserunners. Pinch-hitters Romy Gonzalez and Tyler O’Neil doubled and walked with one out, putting two on for Rafael Devers, who grounded out softly. It was originally ruled a single, an error on the catcher, and a run without an RBI, but it was quickly changed to Devers being out on batter’s interference. After a pitching change, Rob Refsnyder ground out to strand the runners.

The missed opportunity came back to bite Boston immediately when George Springer blasted a solo homer 416 feet over Fenway for a 1-0 Blue Jays lead in the seventh, and Toronto broke it open in the eighth. With one out, Brian Serven and Spencer Horwitz reached on a single and an error by first baseman Triston Casas, knocking Pivetta out of the game. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. greeted Red Sox reliever Luis García with a double to the right-field corner, and both runs scored as O’Neill gave chase. Addison Barger following with a ground-rule double to the same corner, bringing Guerrero home to make it 4-0 before García could escape the jam.

Jarren Duran ensured that the Red Sox, at least, wouldn’t be shut out. His 18th home run of the year just cleared the line atop the Monster. On June 26, it would’ve been No. 8, highlighting how much bat power he’s unleashed since summer began.

That was all the Red Sox would get. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Masataka Yoshida missed a Hail Mary homer by a matter of a few feet. He settled for a double, then stood on second and watched Jansen strike out swinging to bring one of the most peculiar, unique games in baseball history to a frustrating end.

“It’s been going on for a while here,” Cora said of the offense’s cold spell. “Every pitch matters, every at-bat matters. We just got to make sure we slow it down.

“I don’t know if it’s pressure or just good pitching, we’re just … we’re better than this. We know that, and right now we’re not going through a good stretch. We’ll turn around.”

The official scorecard from the game is headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jansen also wore multiple jerseys during the game, and said maybe he’d send one to Cooperstown, too.

“I guess it hasn’t fully hit me yet,” he said. “I tell you what, I was surprised when I found out I was the first one to do it, a little bit. It’s cool. Leaving a stamp like that on the game, it’s interesting and it’s strange, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have that. At the end of the day, it’s a cool thing.”

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