Three losses in a row doesn't sound like much until you remember what Boston was doing a few weeks ago. The Red Sox came into this series off a stretch where they won 27 of 32 games, including a franchise-record 15-game winning streak. Now they've lost back-to-back to Oakland and dropped the opener in Toronto, 2-1, and the mood around the team has flipped fast.
Don't panic about Boston. A club that's still 64-54, and was the hottest team in baseball a month ago, doesn't come apart because of one flat Monday against a sub-.500 opponent. Baseball humbles everybody eventually. Interim manager Chad Tracy said as much after Sunday's loss to the A's, admitting the winning streak was always going to end sometime. Three losses after a run like that isn't a crisis; it's just the sport catching up with them.
What actually matters from this game happened on the mound for Toronto, and it should worry Blue Jays fans more than it comforts Red Sox fans. Jameson Taillon, acquired from the Cubs just over a week ago, cruised through four scoreless innings in his first home start for his new team. Then he walked off with right forearm discomfort, waving over the training staff before getting pulled, his velocity dipping noticeably in the top of the fourth inning before he left. Toronto sent him for an MRI afterward, and there's no word yet on severity or timeline.
This matters. It's part of a rotation that
