TORONTO -- All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Rodriguez survives some shaky defense: Eduardo Rodriguez didn't get a lot of help from his infield. In the first, an error from Rafael Devers led to the first run. A poor throw from Eduardo Nunez at second in the fifth -- though not ruled an error -- directly contributed to the second. But Rodriguez pressed on and, throwing a season-high 106 pitches, got the Red Sox 20 outs to pick up his third win of the season.
"He battled,'' said Cora of his lefty. "Eduardo mixed in everything -- slider, changeup, fastballs up.''
After a spring training that saw him limited for the first few weeks because of off-season knee surgery, Rodriguez has caught up quickly and has his full repertoire to utilize.
"I pitching at 100 percent (health) and I can throw all of my pitches where I want them,'' he said. "I think the only pitch I made a mistake with was the slider to (Yangervis) Solarte (who homered to lead off the sixth).''
Holt taking advantage of regular playing time: Filling in at shortstop while Xander Bogaerts recovers from an ankle injury, Holt has made all the routine plays and contributed plenty at the plate. On Wednesday night, he had his second straight three-hit game, while adding an RBI and scoring a run. For the season, he's hitting .327 and is in the middle of an eight-game hitting streak. That's quite a turnaround for someone who began the season in a 1-for-18 funk. "I feel good,'' said Holt. "Regardless of the results, I'm focusing on feeling good and whether I'm getting the results or not, that's a positive for me, based on how I was feeling (dealing with concussions) last year. I'm trying to build off the good days and hopefully, I can keep things going.''
Betts has another multi-homer game: The trip began with Betts hitting three homers in Anaheim. It continued when he hit two more in the final game there. And Wednesday, Betts had yet another two-homer game. And as big as the second one was -- wiping out a 3-2 Toronto lead and turning it into a 4-3 Red Sox advantage -- the first one helped set the tone for a team looking to bust out of a losing streak and a collective offensive slump. "To start off the game,'' said Cora, "it seems like we needed something like that, especially after the last few days, to get the lead.''
TURNING POINT
After the Red Sox took the lead 4-3 in the top of the seventh, the bullpen took it from there. Rodriguez got the first two outs of the inning, but thereafter, three Red Sox relievers -- Heath Hembree, Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel -- combined to retire all seven hitters they faced.
ONE UP
Joe Kelly: For the second straight night, Kelly was Cora's choice to handle a high-leverage inning, and once again, he came through. Kelly pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning. Since being part of the Opening Day bullpen meltdown at Tropicana Field, Kelly has rebounded nicely with 10 straight scoreless innings, across 11.1 innings.
TWO DOWN
Rafael Devers: Devers was charged with two errors in the first two innings -- bringing his season total to five -- and was hitless (0-for-5) at the plate with three strikeouts.
Eduardo Nunez: Nunez didn't get charged with an error on a wide throw in the fifth -- but he probably should have been. And things weren't any better at the plate, with an 0-for-4 night including two strikeouts. He's now 6-for-27 (.222) on the current road trip.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"We feel good whenever he's in the game and we like him more whenever we're leading, like tonight. He's the best in the game for a reason and we're lucky to have him on our side.'' - Holt on closer Craig Kimbrel.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- In his eight-game hitting streak, Holt is batting .455 (15-for-33).
- Holt has five multi-hit games during the streak.
- After striking out 10 times or more just twice in their first 19 games, the Sox have struck out 10 or more times in each of their last four games
- The Red Sox are now 6-1 in one-run games.
- Boston is 12-3 in its own division.