Blue Jays come up short against Red Sox, despite Barger’s slam 

March 2, 2026

By Kevin Glew 

Cooperstowners in Canada 

Addison Barger hit another grand slam for the Toronto Blue Jays. 

No, it wasn’t as important as his history-making, pinch-hit blast in the sixth inning of Game 1 of the 2025 World Series, but it accounted for almost all of the Blue Jays’ offence in their 7-6 loss to the Boston Red Sox in front of 5,943 fans at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla., on Monday. 

With the Blue Jays trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Barger socked a hanging breaking ball from Red Sox right-hander Patrick Halligan off a light pole far behind the right field fence to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 lead. 

Unfortunately for Blue Jays fans, the lead was short-lived. 

Red Sox outfielder Allan Castro led off the sixth inning with a solo homer off Blue Jays right-hander Spencer Miles to tie the game. 

Two innings later, Nathan Hickey hammered a two-run, 438-foot home run off Jays’ righty Harrison Devereaux to give the Red Sox a 7-5 lead. 

Blue Jays infield prospect Charles McAdoo homered to left-centre with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to make it 7-6, but Red Sox reliever Michael Sansone rallied to strike out Carlos Mendoza to end the game. 

The contest also marked the home Grapefruit League debut of right-hander Cody Ponce, whom the Blue Jays signed to a three-year, $30-million contract in December after his MVP season with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). 

Ponce, who has a Star Wars tattoo that covers his right leg, was greeted with Star Wars music at TD Ballpark. Unfortunately, the force wasn’t with him on this day, he was hit hard, but he limited the damage to one run on four hits in two innings. 

The 6-foot-6 righty was outdueled by Red Sox starter Johan Oviedo who restricted the remaining Blue Jays regulars (who are not playing in the WBC) to two hits in three scoreless innings. He struck out four and 25 of his 31 pitches were strikes. 

Designated hitter Mickey Gasper was another hitting star for the Red Sox. He had an RBI single in the third inning and a two-run home run in the fifth. 

After Oviedo was out of the game, the Blue Jays had plenty of opportunities to score. They had seven hits but were also hit by five pitches and drew four walks. However, they could only capitalize in the fifth inning when they scored five of their runs. 

On a positive note for the Blue Jays, George Springer had a single and a walk and has now reached base in five of his last six plate appearances.  

Much-maligned reliever Brendon Little also looked strong, striking out the side in the fourth inning. All three strikeouts were of the swinging variety on curveballs in the dirt. 

And with Andres Gimenez joining Venezuela in the WBC, Josh Kasevich continued to impress at shortstop. He threw out speedy Red Sox outfielder Braiden Ward on a perfect relay throw to the plate in the first inning. He also added a single and is now 6-for-13 (.462 batting average) this spring. 

Eloy Jimenez also continued to swing a hot bat for the Blue Jays. He had a pinch-hit double in the seventh. It was his seventh hit of the spring. 

With the loss, the Blue Jays dropped to 2-7 in Grapefruit League action. 

They will now take on Canada in a WBC exhibition game at TD Ballpark on Tuesday afternoon.