DEKYAS NEWS World Breaking News and Trusted Source
Related Articles
TORONTO – The Boston Red Sox kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 6-5, 10-inning win over the fading Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
Red Sox reliever Chris Martin earned his third win of the season. Blue Jays reliever Tommy Nance suffered the loss, dropping him to 0-3.
The Red Sox, who have won four straight games, improved their record to 80-78, while the Blue Jays lost their fifth straight game and are now 73-85, a season record 12 games below .500.
“The guys did a great job fighting to the end,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We used everyone. It was one of the most satisfying wins since I’ve been here.”
Blue Jays starting pitcher Bowden Francis was, as always, dominant early in the game, striking out the first two batters he faced before retiring first baseman Triston Casas on a weak fly ball.
The 28-year-old continued his dominant second half by throwing five shutout innings on Tuesday, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out four.
“Just another great performance,” Blue Jays manager Schneider said of his starter. “Just filling the zone, locating well. I can’t say enough about how he finished the season.”
Shortstop Trevor Story started the game’s offensive festivities with a double to lead off the second inning, then advanced to third on a groundout by left fielder Masataka Yoshida. But Francis would quickly get himself out of trouble, drawing soft flyouts from second baseman Vaughn Grissom and right fielder Wilyer Abreu to keep the Red Sox off the scoreboard.
Related videos
When he first faced the opposing team at Rogers Centre, Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen grounded out to third to start the third inning. Jarren Duran reached on a single shortly thereafter, but Francis escaped, as he often did that night, retiring third baseman Romy Gonzalez and finishing the series.
Center fielder Joey Loperfido ran early in the third inning and then stole second base to give the Blue Jays their first runner in scoring position. Left fielder Nathan Lukes also ran shortly thereafter, making way for star player Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who doubled off the center field wall to score both runners and give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.
Receive national news daily
Receive the most important news, political, economic and current affairs topics in your inbox every day.
Guerrero Jr. had RBI No. 102 on the season, making him one of just 11 MLB players with 100-plus through 2024.
Right-hander Lucas Sims came out of the bullpen to relieve Brayan Bello in the sixth, issuing a leadoff walk to second baseman Davis Schneider. The Blue Jays would add to their lead when George Springer doubled off the wall in left-center field a batter later before Nathan Lukes Schneider would score on a sacrifice fly to give Toronto a 3-0 lead.
Boston would not go quietly, however, as the Red Sox began the sixth inning by loading the bases off right-handed reliever Ryan Burr, who plated the go-ahead run in Ceddanne 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 in the next at bat, however, retiring Duran.
The Blue Jays’ bullpen continued to struggle to close out games, as left-hander Genesis Cabrera played the setup role for Toronto heading into the eighth inning and then drained back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Yoshida wasted little time tying the game in the next at bat, bringing home Gonzalez with a forceout.
The run marked Cabrera’s third blown save of the season and gave him a chance to send closer Chad Green into the game. Green came on shortly afterward and tied the game by getting pinch-hitter Nick Sogard to fly out to left field.
With their postseason fate hanging in the balance, the Red Sox sent Martin to the ninth inning for the second consecutive night. After walking Addison Barger, Martin got Clement to ground out into a double play and Davis Schneider to strike out to send the game to extra innings.
“It’s just a testament to who we are as a group, that we’re never out of contention,” Grissom said of the Red Sox’ comeback.
“That’s what you need. The best teams are never out of the fight. That’s huge.”
Right-hander Tommy Nance entered the game for the Blue Jays in the 10th inning and immediately ran into trouble when Story doubled to bring in 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 Blue Jays surge in the bottom half of the 10th inning to secure the win.
NEXT
Toronto RHP Kevin Gausman (13-11, 3.91 ERA) is scheduled to make his final start of the season in Wednesday’s series finale. Red Sox RHP Richard Fitts (0-0, 0.00) is scheduled to make his fourth career start.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
Globalnews Digital
Source link
