Blue Jays-Red Sox: Toronto Wins Thanks to Kyle Snyder and Bryan Corey

The Red Sox-Blue Jays contest on Saturday started out as a battle of the youngsters on the mound, with Clay Buchholz pitching for Boston and Jesse Litsch going for Toronto.

It ended with Kyle Snyder and Bryan Corey turning it into a lopsided victory in favor of the Blue Jays.

Yes, Buchholz had gotten a lot of notoriety in 2007 for throwing a no-hitter in his rookie year, and Litsch had also had a solid rookie season after being recalled last July, showing flashes of brilliance in starts against the Red Sox and Yankees.

However, I just had the feeling that Saturday's game at Rogers Centre would be a high-scoring affair, especially after the fact that the Red Sox had lost the opener of the series on Friday night, and you had the feeling that Red Sox DH David Ortiz, batting .111 on the season, and the rest of the Red Sox might bust out.

Ditto the Blue Jays, who created a huge buzz in the ballpark by honoring Roberto Alomar and Paul Beeston the night before, who no doubt wanted to keep their momentum going by winning back-to-back games for the first time in 2008.

And on Saturday afternoon, neither starting pitcher looked particularly impressive, with Buchholz piling up his pitch count early and Litsch struggling with his control but keeping the Blue Jays in it, and Toronto put together a six-run sixth to break open a close game and batter the visitors 10-2.

Litsch escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third inning thanks to first baseman Lyle Overbay's great play on a line drive to end the threat, and the game turned in Toronto's favor in the fourth.

With the Blue Jays down 2-1 and the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, catcher Gregg Zaun's grounder to first bounced off Sean Casey's glove, allowing both Overbay and Aaron Hill to score.

The Jays never looked back after that point, as David Eckstein singled in another run to make it 4-2 before the inning was over.

Litsch gave way to Brian Tallet in the sixth with the tying run at the plate, and the left-handed reliever did his job, retiring three straight batters to leave Mike Lowell stranded at first base.

Buchholz was done after just five innings, having thrown way too many pitches (89) in his short outing.

Then the Red Sox imploded. More specifically Kyle Snyder and Bryan Corey.

Why, in a 4-2 game, would someone like Kyle Snyder be brought in?

When I saw the ex-Royal brought in, I knew the Blue Jays were going to for sure win it.

Snyder, brought into the game in the sixth, didn't have any control of his pitches and kept throwing ball after ball--he threw nine balls in his 11-pitch stint. Snyder promptly walked the first two he faced before getting an out on a sacrifice.

Snyder, by the way, sported a 13.50 ERA before the contest, having last pitched 11 days earlier in the season opener in Japan.

Bryan Corey didn't provide much relief either, allowing Eckstein's bloop single to right plating both runners. As if that wasn't enough, one out later, Corey served up Alex Rio's RBI double and Vernon Wells' shot up the box to drive in Rios.

With manager Terry Francona seemingly giving up on the game by leaving Corey in, the career journeyman did too, serving up a fat pitch to Frank Thomas.

Thomas obliged and blasted a two-run shot to center, and if there was still any doubt about the outcome, there was none after that clout.

By the time the dust settled, it was already 10-2.

While the Red Sox made some noise in the seventh, Ortiz struck out and Manny Ramirez grounded out to end the rally, and neither team threatened again the rest of the way.

Randy Wells made his major-league debut for the Blue Jays in the ninth inning, and closed things out without any incident, throwing just 12 pitches for the final three outs.

Goats of the game:
-the combination of Snyder and Corey; Snyder walked the first two he faced, and Corey was ripped apart for four hits while getting just one out, turning a close game into a rout
-Ortiz, who went 0-for-4 and is now batting .091 (it's still early though, so let's cut him some slack; he will start hitting soon enough)

Heroes:
-Eckstein, who collected two hits in five at-bats hitting in the leadoff spot, driving in insurance runs in the fourth (1) and sixth innings (2) to finish with 3 ribbies
-Overbay, who made a good play defensively to end the third inning and even went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored
-Litsch, who turned in a decent outing allowing just two runs in his five innings of work
-Tallet, who retired three straight batters with the Red Sox threating in the sixth