Blue Jays – Toronto leaned on a bullpen-stretch day to beat Boston 3-0 at Fenway Park, winning again on Day 2 of 16 games in 16 days. With Max Scherzer returning to the injured list and injuries already forcing constant rotation changes, manager John Schneider highlighted
BOSTON — The Blue Jays’ “bullpen day” didn’t feel like a novelty for Tyler Rogers. It felt like baseball, the way it’s been for Toronto: awkward stretches, starters forced out, and an ever-shifting need to get outs from wherever you can.
Rogers, Toronto’s set-up man, was part of a Giants bullpen in 2023 that set the pace in the majors with 705.1 relief innings. He only saw three pitchers reach triple digits in frames logged. When he talks about what that did to his expectations, the message is simple.
“We had, like, two starters for the whole year (Logan Webb and Alex Cobb) – it was crazy,” Rogers said. He added that the Blue Jays’ recent stretch with three starters didn’t feel outside his experience. “It was crazy. ” he repeated in spirit. then described how even last summer in New York with the Mets left him in the same place mentally: weather the disruption and keep moving.
On Wednesday, though, Toronto’s brief respite ended fast. Max Scherzer returned to the injured list just a week after he came off it. tightening the Blue Jays’ options again. Shane Bieber’s next outing could still be in the majors. which means Toronto may be able to slide back into a five-man rotation next time through.
For now. it’s still the kind of grind that makes a 3-0 win feel like a logistics win as much as a score. On Day 2 of 16 games in 16 days. the Blue Jays used a seven-man effort. with Braydon Fisher opening for the fifth time. Simeon Woods Richardson delivering three innings of bulk. and Jeff Hoffman. Rogers and Louis Varland each pitching a second straight day to blank the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
“You’ve got to use everybody and you’ve got to be pretty deliberate with what the game state is. ” manager John Schneider said. “You’re always trying to win the game at hand and you go. OK. do you go forward or do you ask guys to kind of pick up some innings and leverage that they normally wouldn’t?. You’ve got to gauge that out.
“There are going to be a handful of those games throughout this stretch where it could be someone not used to the eighth inning pitching the eighth in a one-run game or something like that. You’ve got to use everybody.”
Chad Dallas and Tommy Nance — just-recalled by Toronto — were the only relievers who didn’t pitch in the Blue Jays’ second straight Fenway win. That detail matters because it leaves room for another move ahead of Thursday’s series finale.
Even with the flexibility, the Blue Jays’ flexibility isn’t unlimited. The optionable relievers aside from Dallas aren’t going anywhere. and Dallas is “fresh” and offers length. so Toronto may soon have to start churning through its depth. Bieber is on the cusp after making another rehab start at triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday. and Yimi Garcia may also help manage the load after throwing for the second time in three days with the Bisons on Thursday.
Offense is the other lever, and the Blue Jays pulled it often enough to keep the game in medium leverage instead of pushing their late-inning arms into a crisis. Still, the burden of the schedule remained visible in how the runs came.
Davis Schneider played the spark in the third inning. After saving a run in the second with a sliding grab of a Marcelo Mayer blooper to left. he doubled to open the third. Andres Gimenez singled to bring him home. Schneider stole second and third, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s groundout scored him to make it 2-0.
Toronto added insurance in the eighth. Gimenez singled, stole second, and took third on George Springer’s flyout to left. Guerrero’s blooper to short right then touched green for the score.
The Blue Jays’ bats came with familiar faces. Gimenez missed Sunday’s 8-3 loss to the Yankees after slamming his left wrist into the base sliding in for a single Saturday. but he returned to the Red Sox series with a homer and a double in Tuesday’s 6-1 win over Boston. On Wednesday, he helped drive the 3-0 shutout with a run and multiple key moments.
Guerrero’s health also stayed part of the conversation. He missed both weekend losses to New York with back tightness and returned Tuesday in an 0-for-4 effort. Against Boston, he finished with two hits and two RBIs.
For the Blue Jays, the win closed another chapter of a wild stretch. The schedule keeps tightening, the injuries keep redirecting plans, and the bullpen keeps getting asked to do more than it wants — but Toronto did what it had to do at Fenway on Wednesday to make the Red Sox go quiet.
MISRYOUM Sports News Blue Jays Red Sox Tyler Rogers Max Scherzer Shane Bieber John Schneider Braydon Fisher Simeon Woods Richardson Jeff Hoffman Louis Varland Chad Dallas Tommy Nance Davis Schneider Andres Gimenez Vladimir Guerrero Jr. George Springer baseball
Bullpen day sounds like “we ran out of pitchers” but okay.
How is Scherzer already back on the IL?? Dude can’t even stay healthy for a week. Toronto’s probably just lucky Boston didn’t hit.
Wait, so they shut out the Red Sox 3-0 but it was more about bullpen logistics than scoring? That just means the offense is kinda meh, right? Also “seven-man effort” feels like they used everyone except the actual starters lol.
Fenway and “bullpen flexibility” makes it sound like a weather thing like the game got delayed or something. And if they’re bouncing starters in and out, that’s gonna mess with the whole rhythm. I’m not saying the Blue Jays didn’t win, just seems like one of those games where everything went right by accident.