The Blue Jays hit three early home runs off starter Bronson Arroyo and drop Boston a game behind the Yankees in the A.L. East.

01:14 AM EDT on Thursday, September 29, 2005

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- This time the Red Sox didn't have to wait for the bullpen to take to the mound before their pitching imploded.

Hoping for a big outing from Bronson Arroyo, all the Sox saw last night were Toronto Blue Jays hitters mashing the ball to all corners of Fenway Park. The result was a frustrating 7-2 loss, Boston's second in a row at a time when only wins are acceptable.

Elsewhere in the American League, the Yankees clipped the Orioles in Baltimore, 2-1, to move ahead of the Sox by one game in the East Division. The Sox did catch a break and remained tied in the wild-card race as the Indians lost at home to Tampa Bay, 1-0.

On Tuesday, the Blue Jays penetrated the Sox' bullpen in the late innings and grabbed a 7-5 win. Last night, the Jays piled up seven runs in three-plus innings against Arroyo (14-10). Ironically, Boston's bullpen combined for six shutout innings, but the Red Sox couldn't muster much of a push against Ted Lilly (10-11), who improved to 3-0 with a 2.40 E.R.A. against the Sox this season.

"I felt good the whole game," said a dejected Arroyo. "It's just one of those days that every hit they had were all mistakes and they smashed them. They hit every mistake I threw."

Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl

Red Sox second baseman Tony Graffanino plays out the final inning of Boston's 7-2 loss to the Blue Jays last night at Fenway Park. Bronson Arroyos shaky pitching put the team in an early hole, and Sox batters repeatedly failed to get key hits with runners on base. Meanwhile,the Yankees won,taking the division lead, while the Indians lost, remaining tied with the Sox for the Wild Card.

Arroyo gave up a two-run homer to Vernon Wells in the first inning, and a solo shot to Red Sox killer Frank Catalanotto and a two-run blast to Eric Hinske in the third. Just like that, the Blue Jays were in control, 5-1.

Arroyo came back out in the fourth, and when he gave up a single and two walks, manager Terry Francona pulled him in favor of Lenny DiNardo. Catalanotto's two-run double plated two more runs

and the Sox were in a 7-1 hole.

"He goes out for the fourth inning and doesn't get anybody out and he's at 79 (pitches). That's one indication. That's a lot of pitches," Francona said of his starter.

Arroyo's implosion certainly came as a bit of a shock. In his last five starts, the right-hander had posted a 4-0 record and a 3.60 E.R.A. That gave him 14 wins for the season, a career high. But the Blue Jays' bats took no mercy last night. The three-inning effort was his second shortest of the year, stretching back to a 2 2/3-inning clubbing (7 runs, 10 hits) the Baltimore Orioles sent his way back in May.

Now trailing the Yankees again in the East race, the Sox give the ball to Matt Clement for tonight's finale against the Blue Jays. Then New York comes to town for what promises to be three epic games.

"It's a whirlwind, it's a circus every day," said Boston's Johnny Damon. "We need to play better baseball so we can enjoy the circus a little longer."

The free-swinging Blue Jays, now 11-6 against the Sox this year, jumped all over Arroyo's shaky offerings. In the first, Catalanotto ripped a high fastball to deep center for a stand-up triple. Wells followed by rocketing a hanging curve into the Monster Seats in left for a two-run homer.

The Sox answered in the bottom of the first off Lilly when Edgar Renteria hit his eighth home run of the year, his first since Aug. 21. But the Jays were back in force in the third inning. Catalanotto lined a 3-2 pitch that curled just inside Pesky's Pole in right for a home run and a 3-1 lead. Wells kept the pressure on with a sharp single to left, and then Arroyo left an 0-2 mistake out over the plate that Hinske drove to center for a home run and a 5-1 lead.

The fourth inning wasn't pretty, either. Arroyo walked Gabe Gross, gave up a single to ninth hitter Aaron Hill and walked Russ Adams to load the bases. That was enough for Francona, who sent for DiNardo. The lefty was greeted by a Catalanotto double (his seventh hit in a row) that scored two runs, pushing the lead to 7-1.

The Sox had some chances to get to Lilly but couldn't deliver the key hit. With the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning, Kevin Millar swung at Lilly's first pitch and flied out weakly to right.

Boston pushed a run across in the fifth on a Renteria double and Ortiz's single, but flyouts by Jason Varitek and Millar prevented any further damage. Lilly left in the seventh, and relievers Vinnie Chulk and Scott Schoeneweis shut the Sox out the rest of the way.

While Red Sox fans have talked for weeks about various playoff scenarios, the bottom line is if the pitching staff doesn't begin putting strong efforts together in the final four games, there may be no playoffs next week. That possibility is beginning to sink in.

"Obviously, it's a big loss for us," said Arroyo. "The only positive was that Cleveland lost, as well. It's a huge loss. The Yanks won, so you just try to come back tomorrow and hopefully even the score."