Blue Jays 3, Red Sox 0: The offense no shows again

Apr 28, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Red Sox centre fielder Jarren Duran (16) hits a broken bat ground out against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images Every once in a while, you get a picture (like that one up there of Jarren Duran) that so perfectly encapsulates how the night went for the offense, you just have to use it. But tonight, we got two: After a three game winning streak that included several signs of life from the lineup, they regressed right back into the puddle of ineptitude at the plate we’ve seen far to often this year.

Their best chance to score came in the first inning when Willson Contreras hit a one out double, but after failing to get that run home, they had only one at bat with a runner in scoring position the rest of the night. That’s pretty much all you need to know. If you’re feeling generous, you can say they were facing Trey Yesavage, who’s an excellent young pitcher and will be a thorn in the side of AL East opponents for years to come.

But on the other hand, he was making his first big league start of the year coming back from injury and looked hittable early on before getting stronger as his outing progressed. At the very least, the bats should have made him work harder and generated some chances. While nobody expects this offense to be good, there’s been far too many nights this season where they’ve resembled a corpse.

Going into the game, the story was Payton Tolle, and specifically if he could back up his outing against the Yankees from last time out. The answer to that was a resounding “no,” as unlike Yesavage, he got worse as his outing progressed. Tolle lasted just 4.