TORONTO – The Boston Red Sox kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a come-from-behind 6-5 victory in 10 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
Red Sox reliever Chris Martin earned his third of the season. Blue Jays’ reliever Tommy Nance took the loss, dropping him to 0-3.
The Red Sox improved their record to 80-78, while the Blue Jays dropped to a season-high 12 games below .500 at 73-85.
Blue Jays starter Bowden Francis was his typically dominant self to begin the game, striking out the first two batters he faced before retiring first baseman Triston Casas with a weak fly out.
The Blue Jays continued their offensive woes in the bottom of the first, however.
Shortstop Trevor Story began the game’s offensive festivities with a double to lead off the second inning and then advanced to third on a groundout by left fielder Masataka Yoshida. But Francis would work himself out of trouble soon after, eliciting soft fly-outs from second baseman Vaughn Grissom and right-fielder Wilyer Abreu to keep the Red Sox off the scoresheet.
Third baseman Addison Barger earned the Blue Jays their first baserunner of the game in the bottom of the second, ripping a hard-hit single to left field after working a full count. The threat would be short-lived, however, as shortstop Ernie Clement would ground out to short on the next pitch to end the inning.
Stepping to the plate as an opponent for the first time at Rogers Centre, Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen grounded out to third to begin the third inning. Jarren Duran would reach base with a single shortly after, but Francis escaped once again by striking out third baseman Romy Gonzalez to retire the side.
Centre-fielder Joey Loperfido walked to begin the bottom of the third and then stole second to give the Blue Jays their first runner in scoring position. Left fielder Nathan Lukes walked as well shortly after, giving way to star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who ripped a double off the centre field wall to score both runners and give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.
Guerrero Jr. earned RBI No. 102 on the season, making him one of just 11 players in MLB with over 100 in 2024.
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Francis would start the fourth inning with a walk, just the third he had issued to that point in his past four games. Once again, the 28-year-old would work his way out of trouble, first sitting down Story on strikes before getting Yoshida to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Grissom doubled off the wall in left-centre to lead off the fifth, narrowly beating a strong relay throw to slide safe into second. But Francis responded again, getting Abreu to foul out, Jansen to ground out to third, and then Ceddanne Rafaela to fly out to the right-field wall to keep his shutout bid alive.
Right-hander Lucas Sims came out of the bullpen to relieve Bello in the sixth, giving up a leadoff walk to second baseman Davis Schneider. The Blue Jays would add to their lead shortly after that as George Springer doubled off the wall in left-centre one batter later before Nathan Lukes would score Schneider with a sacrifice fly, putting Toronto ahead 3-0.
Boston would not go away quietly, however, as the Red Sox started the sixth inning by loading the bases on right-handed reliever Ryan Burr, placing the leading run at the plate in Rafaela. Rafaela then singled through the gap at short to score two runners and cut the Blue Jays’ lead to one. Burr would limit the damage on the next at-bat, though, striking out Duran swinging.
Right-hander Luis Garcia came on in relief in the bottom of the seventh inning and kept Boston’s comeback hopes alive. Garcia made quick work of the Blue Jays’ hitters, retiring Joey Loperfido, Springer and Lukes in just seven pitches.
Left-hander Genesis Cabrera would play set-up role for Toronto heading into the eighth inning and proceeded to give up back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Yoshida wasted little time tying the game in the next at-bat, bringing Gonzalez home on a forceout. The run marked Cabrera’s third blown save of the season, with closer Chad Green entering the game soon after and keeping the game tied by getting pinch-hitter Nick Sogard to fly out to left field.
With their post-season fate hanging in the balance, the Red Sox sent out Chris Martin to pitch the ninth for the second consecutive night. After walking Addison Barger, Martin got Clement to ground out into a double play and Schneider to strike out swinging to send the game to an extra inning.
Right-hander Tommy Nance entered the game for the Blue Jays in the 10th inning and immediately found himself in trouble, as Story doubled to bring home two runners and give the Red Sox their first lead of the game. Grissom would add an insurance run on a single to left field as the Red Sox held off a surge by the Blue Jays in the bottom half of the 10th to secure the win.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press