Blue Jays lose home opener to Boston

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TORONTO, Ont. – The Toronto Blue Jays home opener at the Rogers Centre, Monday night, ended on a down note with a loss to the Boston Red Sox.

The “boys of summer” hoped to impress a sold-out crowd of more than 50,000 fans for their home opener. However, despite an early lead, the Blue Jays lost to the Red Sox, 4-2.

Young pitcher Henderson Alvarez took to the mound for the Jays, as he hoped to build on what was an impressive rookie season.

The Blue Jays lead 2-1 until Ryan Sweeney drove in the winning run as the Boston Red Sox scored three times in the ninth inning.

Sweeney’s single to right field off Blue Jays closer Sergio Santos scored pinch runner Darnell McDonald from second to break a 2-2 tie.

Santos, who came on to protect a 2-0 Toronto lead, issued consecutive two-out walks to Ortiz and Cody Ross to set up Sweeney’s clutch hit.

After the game ended, it was a long walk from the mound back to the dugout for Santos, who was booed by fans.

He was a top trending topic on Twitter, with one post saying: “Dear Sergio Santos … seriously? Blowing back to back saves? Who are u? Every other closer the jays have had in the last 10 years?”

“You know, I’d be booing too. It wasn’t pretty. You know, I’ve got to be ready for tomorrow, I hope it’s not the same situation — they can get back out there. All I can do is be prepared for the next game,” said Santos.

“Right now, we’re not in-sync all the way around,” said Blue Jays manager John Farrell after the game.

Meanwhile, even though beer sales were limited in certain areas, there were still issues at Rogers Centre. On Twitter, one person wrote: “Three girls just got kicked out of my section for drinking straight vodka.”

Before the game, many fans felt the hype after the team’s near perfect record in spring training. One fan told 680News they walked out of the Jays Shop with a big bundle of bags.

“I had to buy a hat and a jersey for sure, I got a phone case, I got flags I even got Blue Jay Crocs today, and pajama pants and a dog water dish too, I had to get that,” Pam said. “I probably (spent) over a thousand dollars today.”

Fans from the GTA are not the only people present, with one family travelling from as far as Marquis, Sask.

The trip marked the first time the mother and her two daughters had visited Toronto, as well as their first Blue Jays game.

With one of the league’s most explosive offenses and an impressive core of young and improving players, the team is getting in on the buzz as well.

“This team believes in themselves, they believe they can execute when the game is on the line, which has been the case the first two games,” said Farrell before the game.

“Where this all stacks up remains to be seen, but I know one thing, the common feeling in the clubhouse in spring training has certainly carried over to the start of the season.”

Although the Blue Jays didn’t get the sweep during the season-opening weekend, they managed some extra-inning heroics in the two games they did win over Cleveland.

“They haven’t let us down so far — three games into the season, all three have been extraordinarily exciting; great hard-fought games,” said Mike Wilner of Sportsnet 590 The Fan.

During the pre-game ceremony, the Blue Jays paid tribute to Tanner Craswell and Mitch MacLean, two former baseball players who were killed in a horrific triple murder-suicide in Alberta in December.

MacLean’s No. 6 jersey and Craswell’s No. 13 were both presented in glassed frames at second base.  A moment of silence was observed in the players’ honour, as well as for the memory of former legendary sportswriter Trent Frayne, former Montreal Expos catcher Gary Carter and one-time umpire Marty Springstead, all of whom also passed away recently.

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