TORONTO -- Ultimately, they won the game, which, in the end, is all that matters.
All that matters for the night, that is, in the present, which is where teams live. The Red Sox' 10-7, 10-inning triumph will not count any less after their bullpen nearly sabotaged them over the final four innings.
"Nearly'' is the operative word here, of course, because, again, the win counts fully, regardless of how it was achieved.
But given that the win moved the Red Sox to an almost unfathomable 46 games over .500 and gave them is-that-some-kind-of-misprint winning percentage of .702, this isn't about their lead in the East being threatened or compromised.
With almost eight weeks to go, the Red Sox can't print playoff tickets yet, but they can take a macro view of things and assess how they shape up for October. And from 30,000 feet, or from the dugout, there's a problem that can't be ignored.
On a night when Rogers Centre leaked and allowed rain to seep in, making the roof retractable but not exactly impenetrable, it also seemed to serve as a metaphor for the Red Sox bullpen.
Here's one way to look at it: starter Drew Pomeranz, who walked five, got only three swings-and-misses and missed the strike zone with nearly half (40-of-84) of his pitches, was one of only two pitchers to face more than one batter and still post some scoreless innings Tuesday.
Six different relievers made the visiting bullpen door a turnstile, one after another entering, and more often than not, allowing runs to the Blue Jays. Heath Hembree inherited two baserunners and stranded both when he retired the only hitter he faced. Brandon Workman loaded the bases with no outs and somehow extricated himself, Houdini-like, by emerging unscathed.
After that, it was all downhill:
- Joe Kelly pitched an inning and allowed a run, aided and abetted by his own errant pickoff attempt;
- Matt Barnes allowed two hits and a run immediately after J.D. Martinez had helped to give the Red Sox their first their lead of the night, 5-3;
- Craig Kimbrel suffered his fourth blown save of the season when he gave up a game-tying homer to Justin Smoak with one out in the bottom of the ninth;
- Tyler Thornburg was rocked for two runs on three hits in the 10th, bringing the potential tying run to the on-deck circle in an inning which began with a five-run lead.