The Toronto Blue Jays are annihilating the Boston Red Sox on Friday night at Fenway Park. At the time of publishing, Toronto has a 23-3 lead in the top of the fifth inning. Yes, TWENTY-THREE to three, in the fifth inning. A 20-run lead.
(Update: The Blue Jays won 28-5!)
And it’s not hard to identify the main highlight to summarize the game.
Toronto led 6-0 with two outs in the top of the third inning, when Raimel Tapia came to the plate with the bases loaded. Tapia hit a flyball to center field, but right after his swing, he appeared to be frustrated that he didn’t hit the ball a bit better. However, things still worked out quite well for Tapia.
The ball traveled all the way to the center field wall- where no Boston defender was remotely close to. Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran lost the ball in the lights or sky, and he stood out there confused as the ball landed well past him.
A previously frustrated Tapia then sprinted around the bases and scored rather easily for an inside-the-park grand slam.
Completely fun and normal GRAND SLAM 🙌 pic.twitter.com/cAvX8pZiWN
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 23, 2022
Raimel Tapia was flying around the bases. pic.twitter.com/G6dehc2Z8k
— MLB (@MLB) July 23, 2022
A comical, rather lucky grand slam, but one that Tapia and the Blue Jays will gladly take. It also helped put a dent in the ERA of Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi (even though he had been replaced by Austin Davis), who was credited with nine earned runs over 2 2/3 innings pitched (taking his ERA from 3.30 to 4.34).
It’s the first inside-the-park grand slam in the majors since Michael A. Taylor hit one in 2017.
