TORONTO -- J.D. Martinez belted an opposite-field three-run homer in the sixth, and the Red Sox bullpen held on for dear life, holding off the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4. The win gave the Red Sox another series win (they're 7-1) and sent them back to Boston with a 6-3 record on their three-city trip.
The Blue Jays scored solo runs in each of the first three innings against starter Chris Sale, two of them on solo homers. The two homers in the span of two innings -- one to Devon Travis, another to Justin Smoak -- matched the number of homers that Sale had allowed in his first five starts combined.
But the Sox countered with a run in the second on an RBI-double from Andrew Benintendi and another in the fourth, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Rafael Devers before Martinez connected off starter Marco Estrada. It was his fifth homer of the season.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays
WHEN: 7:07 p.m.
WHERE: Rogers Centre
WHAT'S UP: The two teams have split the first two games of the series, with the finale set for tonight. Boston has already assured itself of a winning road trip, having gone 5-3 in the first eight games of the three-city trip. The Sox have only lost one series all season and a win tonight will improve them to 7-1 in eight series to date.
STARTING PITCHERS: Chris Sale (1-1, 1.86) vs. Marco Estrada (2-1, 5.32)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:25 Another sub-par outing for Carson Smith, who allows two extra-base hits in the span of four hitters -- and gives way to Matt Barnes, who's facing the potential go-ahead run at the plate in Justin Smoak
9:16 Sale leaves with just four strikeouts. The only start with the Red Sox in which he's had fewer came last Aug. 24, when, in three innings, he had three strikeouts.
8:36 We know that J.D. Martinez has great power to right field and that three-run homer was a perfect example. He got a four-seamer on the outer half and crushed it. The ball was a line drive that carried and got out in a hurry, and now the Red Sox have their first lead of the night.
8:10 Andrew Benintendi was picked off at second in the third inning, marking the 15th OOB (outs on the bases) for the Red Sox this season. Would it surprise you to know that his leads all major league teams? Didn't think so.
7:50 Tough break for Brock Holt, who had been the Red Sox' hottest hitter. He had just extended his hitting streak to nine straight with that third-inning double when he reached back to grab his left hamstring in the top of the third. He was removed in favor of Tzu-Wei Lin. Holt was going to lose his job as interim shortstop Friday with the activation of Xander Bogaerts, but it now looks like he could be headed to the DL. That will save Lin from being optioned to Pawtucket to make room for Bogaerts.
7:42 When a No. 9 hitter with no homers on the season takes Chris Sale deep, your automatic reaction is: mistake pitch. But Sale's pitch wasn't a bad one -- he threw a slider down-and-away, and Devon Travis did a nice job with it, jacking it out deep to left.
7:28 To give Martinez credit, he made a fine running catch on the warning track on that shot by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. That was far from a routine play, and yet Martinez successfully ran it down.
7:21 The bloop single to right by Justin Smoak is a perfect example of the shortcomings of J.D. Martinez in the outfield. He didn't get a good jump on the ball, and as he came in, seemed caught in-between, afraid that the ball was going to bounce on the turf and over his head. Instead, he backed off some, the ball dropped and Teoscar Hernandez went from first-to-third. Is there any doubt that Mookie Betts makes that catch with ease?
LINEUPS:
RED SOX
Betts CF
Benintendi LF
Ramirez DH
Martinez RF
Moreland 1B
Nunez 2B
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Holt SS
JAYS
Pearce DH
Hernandez LF
Smoak 1B
Solarte 3B
Pillar CF
Gurriel SS
Grichuk RF
Maile C
Travis 2B
NEWS AND NOTES:
- As expected, SS Xander Bogaerts will be activated Friday when the Red Sox return home for a six-game homestand. He's missed the last 2 1/2 weeks with a left ankle injury, and had a second rehab game at Pawtucket rained out Wednesday. But after a checkup with the team's medical staff, he's been cleared. "I talked to him today and he was very upbeat,'' said Alex Cora. "He didn't have to convince me. He was emphatic, genuine and he said it with conviction. He's upbeat and we're looking forward to having him back at shortstop and in the middle of the lineup...He's a difference-maker.''
- Joe Kelly received word that his appeal of his six-game suspension was denied and he began serving that suspension Thursday night. Kelly was suspended two weeks ago after a bench-clearing brawl took place when he plunked Tyler Austin of the Yankees. "Disappointed? Yeah, but it is what it is,'' said Cora. "We'll manage the game with the guys that we have in the bullpen. In six days, he'll come back and keep rolling. If I was a gambling man, I would have bet a dollar that they would at least reduce it to five. But it didn't happen, they have their reasons and we respect that.'' Said Kelly: "It's disappointing (not to get some reduced),'' said Kelly. "Suspensions are (never) fun. We're going to have to play a guy down for six games. That's how it goes.''
- Cora said Brock Holt will return to the utility role, spelling Bogaerts at short, as well as getting some time at second and the outfield.
- With J.D. Martinez in the outfield, Mookie Betts started in center for the first time since 2015. Cora wanted to keep Andrew Benintendi in left, so he shifted Betts from right to center and had Martinez in right. "It's about keeping Benny in left, and in this stadium, with Mookie in center, that's a better defensive alignment,'' said Cora. "I think those three in this park, it helps.'' Cora said moving Betts to center "is not going to happen often. But there are certain places that we do feel, with the guy on the mound, their structure offensively, that part of the ballpark we can defend better (with this alignment).''
- While Kelly serves his suspension, Brian Johnson will be the reliever Cora calls on to get a tough lefty in the late innings. "BJ will have to step up in the coming days,'' said Cora. "There may be days when he's the lefthanded specialist. But there are other days where he can give us two-three innings.''