TORONTO -- First, Mookie Betts gave the Red Sox the lead to start the game. Then, he helped them re-take the lead for good in the seventh.
Betts enjoyed his second multi-homer game of the current road trip and the Red Sox snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Betts's two-run homer, with Brock Holt (three hits again) aboard, helping the Sox go from down a run to up a run.
Eduardo Rodriguez allowed three runs over 6.2 innings and picked up his third win of the season. Craig Kimbrel, a night after giving up a walkoff homer, rebounded to pick up the save.
Rodriguez was tagged for solo runs in the first, fifth and sixth, but walked just one.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays
WHEN: 7:07 p.m.
WHERE: Rogers Centre
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have lost a season-high three straight, with the latest setback coming Tuesday night in a 4-3, 10-inning loss. After an offensive explosion that saw them score 27 runs in three games in Anaheim, the Red Sox offense has slumped and accounted for just four in the last three games. The Blue Jays snapped a two-game losing streak with their series-opening win on Tuesday.
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0, 3.45) vs. RHP Aaron Sanchez (1-2, 3.86)
TV/RADIO: NESN-Plus/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS
9:52 Interesting how much trust Cora has developed in Joe Kelly, who has become the go-to 8th inning guy of late. Kelly threw two high-leverage innings Tuesday and just retired the Jays in order in the eighth tonight.
9:31 Little surprising that Rodriguez was allowed to start the seventh, given that he had already thrown 92 pitches through six and the Red Sox had a long top of the inning, sending eight hitters to the plate. But the move works out for Cora, with Rodriguez getting the first two hitters before being lifted for Heath Hembree.
9:06 Betts showed great plate coverage. Danny Barnes threw him a good pitch -- a four-seamer on the outer half, but Betts, with exceptionally quick wrists, flicked it the other way and got a two-run homer, just inside the right field foul pole.
8:52 Not hard to discern why Yangervis Solarte hit that first pitch of the inning into the second level of seats in leff: ERod served up a hanging slider, right over the middle of the plate.
8:30 I know that pitch was in the dirt and that made it impossible to make a throw down to second in time as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stole second, but I'm amazed that, on April 25, Red Sox catchers have yet to throw out an opposing base stealer.
8:17 Bizarre play as the Red Sox take the lead in the fifth. With two on and no out, Brock Holt hits a ball to deep left. Jackie Bradley Jr., off with the pitch, mistakenly thinks the ball is going to be caught in left, and after hitting, third, goes back to second. At the same time, Christian Vazquez was heading to third and he very nearly passed Bradley in the middle. Bradley then corrected course and scored while Vazquez stopped at third. The Jays challenged the play, claiming that Vazquez passed Bradley and thus, would have been out. The call on the field was confirmed.
8:11 Eduardo Rodriguez is hardly known for his efficiency, but something has changed that tonight. After needing 34 pitches in the first two innings, he's thrown just six in each of his last two. That's 12 pitches to get the last six outs. To say that's a rarity for him would be a massive understatement.
7:24 There's Devers in a nutshell, defensively: made a fine backhand stop, but then, after double-clutching, makes a wild throw to first that enables a run to score and allows Justin Smoak, the hitter, to reach second.
7:12 Yet more evidence of the newfound aggressiveness from Mookie Betts in the leadoff spot. He hammered a 2-and-0 pitch to left for his third leadoff homer of the road trip. In the past, Betts likely would have taken that pitch and been satisfied with running the count to 3-and-0. Instead, knowing he was in a good hitter's count, he swing at a pitch he liked and hit it out.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Ramirez 1B
Martinez DH
Devers 3B
Nunez 2B
Bradley CF
Vazquez C
Holt SS
BLUE JAYS
Pearce LF
Hernandez RF
Smoak 1B
Solarte 3B
Morales DH
Martin C
Pillar CF
Gurriel 2B
Diaz SS
NEWS AND NOTES:
- Despite the fact that Xander Bogaerts was rained out of his second rehab appearance with Pawtucket Wednesday night, the expectation is that the shortstop will be activated and return to the Sox' lineup Friday. "I had a conversation with him (Tuesday) night and again this morning,'' said Alex Cora. "He's going to see the doctor (Thursday) just to make sure everything's fine. Then, after that, we'll talk to him again and make a decision. One thing I want to make sure is that he's ready to play and that he's not playing because he feels that he has to play. I do feel that he's in a good spot, the way he talked to me. But he we have to make sure that's the case.'' Cora and the Sox are particularly mindful of the fact that Bogaerts insisted on playing hurt in the second half of last season after being struck on the hand by a pitch in early July and don't want him to repeat the mistake of coming back before he's truly ready. "I want him to (understand) there's no rush here,'' Cora said. "Yeah we need him, he's an elite shortstop. But we have to make sure he's ready to play. That's the most important thing.''
- In the meantime, Brock Holt continues to do the job at short in the absence of Bogaerts. After starting the season 1-for-18, he came into Wednesday with a seven-game hitting streak and was 8-for-17 on the road trip. "He's had good at-bats all around, staying on pitches,'' Cora said. "He's been producing, doing a good job. It's good to see because now, with everything going and Xander's coming back, we have options on the bench and I won't hesitate to use him in certain spots.''
- J.D. Martinez came into Wednesday 0-f0r-11 with eight strikeouts and Cora acknowledged that Martinez had been guilty of "chasing pitches up in the zone. They go in, he misses a few pitches that were hittable for him, then all of a sudden, that pitch up-and-away, he's swinging and missing. But it's just like with Mookie (Betts) -- you feel like they're a pitch away from getting hot again.''