Missing his 'spots', E-Rod struggles vs. Jays

The Blue Jays came out swinging, and Eduardo Rodriguez was not up to the task.

Facing a lineup that attacked early and often, Rodriguez suffered his second loss in as many starts in an 8-0 defeat on Tuesday night at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla.

Rodriguez is known to seek first-pitch strikes -- he entered the night with a first-pitch strike rate of 66 percent, a career high -- and the Blue Jays clearly had the book on him. They swung at 16 first pitches in 26 at-bats (61.5 percent) against Rodriguez, which is the highest rate of his career and nearly double his average (31.1 percent).

That type of aggression changes nothing about Rodriguez's game plan. In fact, he welcomes it because it means he can push deeper into a game -- assuming he's hitting his targets.

"If I was hitting my spots, I'd probably throw eight or nine innings with like 80 pitches, because they were swinging first pitch," Rodriguez said. "It's just about that. It's all about hitting your spots."

The left-hander caught too much of the plate too many times, and the Blue Jays were eager to make him pay. Toronto's first four hits came on Rodriguez's first offering, including a second-inning double by Randal Grichuk. He came around to score the game's opening run, which was all Toronto needed on an uncharacteristically silent night for Boston's offense.

The Jays added on in the fourth, though, tagging Rodriguez for a trio of two-out runs to push their lead to 4-0. Rodriguez almost escaped unscathed, but he issued a walk to No. 9 hitter Danny Jansen. Next up was Marcus Semien, who blooped a single to right (with a 57.9 mph exit velocity, according to Statcast) that scored two. Bo Bichette followed with an RBI double, putting a stamp on a frame that unraveled on Rodriguez quickly.

"It just felt like they kept putting [together] good at-bats, everything with two outs, we weren't able to stop the bleeding," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "I don't want to say luck, but it seemed like everything they put in play was a hit."

Toronto collected 18 hits on the night (the most Boston has allowed this season), 11 of which came off Rodriguez (matching his career high). Suddenly, after winning his first four starts with a 3.52 ERA, Rodriguez has gone 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA in the four starts since.

What he's done consistently for the Red Sox is provide reasonable length, going five innings or further in all eight outings. But part of that length is born from his aim to be efficient. And when that efficiency isn't coupled with accuracy, Rodriguez can get into some major trouble.

"Command is not where it usually is, and that's something that he needs regardless of his stuff -- if he's throwing hard or his velocity's down," Cora said. "There's been a lot of contact. I think teams are doing a good job staying with him and going the other way, so we'll go back to the drawing board and see what we can do."

There wasn't a lot of contact on the other side, as Red Sox hitters spread five hits and two walks over nine innings. They only pushed one runner to third base all night, and in the end, they were shut out for the first time since Opening Day.

In the third week of May, it might still be too early to intently check the standings. But the Red Sox do have something at stake now in Wednesday's matchup with the Blue Jays: Boston needs to win to retain sole possession of first place in the American League East -- which they've held since April 11 -- or else Toronto (a half-game back) will take over.