The Blue Jays straight up did not have a good time in Boston!

This four-game set against the Red Sox went about as bad as it could have gone, as Boston completed a dominant sweep of Toronto with a 11-5 win tonight. Boston had this game in hand from the very beginning, highlighted by a 5-run second inning that was a nightmare for Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman. This loss also exceeds the loss total against the Red Sox from all of last season.

Vladdy had his third consecutive two-hit game going 2-for-4 with two RBIs, including a towering solo home run and a RBI double. His home run went 403 feet and was hit 108 miles off the bat, and it tied Bo Bichette for the team lead in home runs with 7.

Kevin Gausman: There was a lot of confidence heading into today’s game, as sending Gausman to the hill when the team needed a win sounded like a good situation to be in. Gausman had thrown 14 straight scoreless innings heading into this game in wins over the Yankees and the Mariners, and had just set a career-high in strikeouts in the latter outing.

Conversely, things simply did not go well for him much at all tonight. The scoreless innings streak was snapped right away as Gausman allowed a home run from Masataka Yoshida in the first inning. The second inning was far worse, and it was reminiscent of his poor first inning a few weeks ago in Houston. Gausman threw 36 pitches in the second frame and surrendered six hits and one walk, leading to five total runs in the inning. Furthermore, the damage done included contributions from former Blue Jays Raimel Tapia and Reese McGuire.

Although pitching a clean inning in the third, Gausman gave up a RBI single to Yoshida in the 4th and was pulled from the game one batter later. His final line was 4.1 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, and 4 strikeouts. Gausman only generated 7 whiffs through 88 pitches, culminating to a largely abnormal start for him.

It was also a rough day for his battery mate Danny Jansen, who allowed five total stolen bases throughout the day.

Zach Pop injured: With Gausman having a short outing, John Schneider unfortunately had to turn to his bullpen, which had already been worked pretty heavily this week. Toronto used five relievers tonight, one of which being Zach Pop, who hurt himself after throwing a pitch in the 8th inning. Pop was in a notable amount of discomfort, and had to be helped off the field by multiple Blue Jays staff members.

The specifics have not been made public yet on Pop’s injury, but it is likely that someone will be called up from Buffalo to meet the team in Pittsburgh tomorrow to replace him.

AL East: While it is very early in the season, the Blue Jays are going to really feel the sweep from this series in the highly competitive division in which they reside. Toronto started this series in third place, but is now in fourth as Boston was able to leap them. Toronto is now just a game out of last place, and eight games back of the Rays.

No, it isn’t time to freak out, but this certainly won’t do Toronto any favors in the long run.

What’s next: The Jays now head to Pittsburgh to face one of the most surprising stories in the league. The Pirates are in first place in the NL Central with a 20-12 record, so this will be much more of a test than Toronto would have predicted at the start of the season. Chris Bassitt starts for the Jays with the team in need of a quality start. He will be opposed by veteran Rich Hill.