The Red Sox twice came from behind Thursday night, erasing a 5-0 lead early in the game, then overcoming a one-run deficit in the ninth as Rafael Devers hit a chopper through a drawn-in infield to give the Sox a 7-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Trailing 6-5 in the ninth, the Sox took advantage of a one-out walk to Mookie Betts and a booming double to center by Mitch Moreland to tie the game.
The Jays had jumped on Nathan Eovaldi with a five-run third, capitalizing on two walks and two homers.
The Sox chipped away with three in the bottom of the third, a solo run on a wild pitch in the fifth and a game-tying homer from Moreland in the seventh.
A solo homer by Freddy Galvis off Ryan Brasier in the eighth gave the Jays a 6-5 edge. But not for long.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: Blue Jays won the first game, 7-5.
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (0-0, 8.10) vs. RHP Aaron Sanchez (1-1, 1.64)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:25 Another clutch contribution from Moreland, who doubles to straightaway center, scoring Betts from first with the tying run.
9:47 Ryan Brasier picked a particularly bad time to give up his first run of the season -- a solo homer to Freddy Galvis. It wasn't a bad pitch -- a changeup at the very bottom of the strike zone, but Galvis golfed it into the visitor's bullpen to snap a game the Sox had tied the previous half-inning.
9:33 If a 3-9 team can have an MVP, surely it's Mitch Moreland. Fifth homer of the season -- three have put the Sox ahead, two have tied games.
9:25 Not sure if it will matter, but Red Sox again getting impressive work from their bullpen. Both Heath Hembree and Colten Brewer toss scoreless innings, each recording two strikeouts.
9:03 Strange decision as third base coach Carlos Febles sends Rafael Devers home on a shallow fly ball to center. Devers was out by about 10 feet.
9:01 Aaron Sanchez seems intent on keeping the Red Sox in this game, with four walks and three wild pitches.
8:50 As bad as it's been for Eovaldi and the Red Sox, they've recorded a double-play in four of the five innings to date. Score could be a lot worse.
8:16 Sox get on the board after an error in the Blue Jays' OF allows Mookie Betts to reach and a booming double to the triangle by JD Martinez scores him.
8:12 Just a horrendous inning for Eovaldi -- two walks, two long homers. He's been burned by the long ball this year, allowing six homers in his first 13 innings. Last year, in 54 innings with the Sox, he gave up only three.
7:44 For the second straight inning, Red Sox get bailed out of an inning by a double-play ball. Both times, Dustin Pedroia hung in nicely at second on the turn.
7:37 Red Sox miss a chance to do some damage in the first inning. Had bases loaded and one out and couldn't get a run in. Sox are 2-for-18 with the bases loaded this season.
7:15 One of the strange things about Eovaldi's season to date is his lack of control. That's seven walks in 10.1 innings for someone who averaged just 1.6 walks per nine innings last season.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Benintendi LF
Betts RF
Moreland 1B
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Pedroia 2B
Bradley CF
Swihart C
BLUE JAYS
McKinney LF
Galvis SS
Smoak DH
Grichuk CF
Tellez 1B
Jansen C
Drury 3B
Gurriel 2B
Brito RF
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox begin the second game of the homestand 6.5 games out first place, the most they've been out first since 2015...The Sox have never reached the postseason in seasons in which they lost as many as nine games in their first 12, though 11 teams in MLB history have done so, with the most recent being the 2007 Philadelphia Phillies...The Sox bullpen, with Brian Johnson on the IL, have combined to post a 2.06 ERA and a .191 opponents batting average against...The Sox are 1-6 when scoring first and 2-3 when the opponents score first. They've scored first in each of their last five games, winning just one of those...Since the start of 2017, the Red Sox are 28-11 against the Blue Jays and are 10-1-1 in the last dozen series...Mookie Betts has six RBI in his last five games...Xander Bogaerts has reached base in each of his last nine games...Rafael Devers is second on the team with seven runs scored...Blake Swihart is 6-for-14 in his last five games...J.D. Martinez goes into Thursday needing two homers for No. 200 in his career. It took him 609 games and 2,229 at-bats to hit the first 100, but only 325 games and 1,214 to hit the last 98...Mitch Moreland has homered in each of his last three games with an at-bat, the longest such streak of his career. Three of his four homers have given the Red Sox the lead. He leads the team in homers (four), RBI (10), extra-base hits (seven); slugging percentage (.686) and OPS (1.036)....Nathan Eovaldi made eight appearances at Fenway in 2018 and was 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA and 30 strikeouts and just four walks in 33 innings pitched...In four career appearances against the Jays, he's 1-1 with a 2.78 ERA...Toronto catcher Danny Jansen is the only active Blue Jay with a career base hit against Eovaldi...Justin Smoak, meanwhile, is 0-for-8 lifetime against Eovaldi….Jackie Bradley Jr. has the best career numbers against Sanchez, going 5-for-16 with a homer and five RBI...Devers, meanwhile, is 1-for-9.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Brock Holt (scratched cornea) visited a doctor on Tuesday and still needs time.
- Brian Johnson (left elbow) is getting treatment and has not been cleared to begin baseball activities again.
- Cora isn't concerned about Chris Sale, who has pitched poorly in two of his three starts. "There's a lot of conversation, a lot of information we have from (Tuesday),'' Cora said. "He should be fine. We've been talking about it. In the next few days, throwing-wise, hopefully we can clean a few things up for the next one. I think the off-speed pitches are the ones he's not consistent with. Everybody talks about the fastball, but for me, it's the slider. It's the best slider in the game and right now it's not that. It's not as consistent as usual. I think he's going to get it and he's going to take off.'' Sale will next pitch Tuesday, the first of the series in New York.
- Cora believes that poorly-timed walks have contributed to problems experienced by Eduardo Rodriguez, who will start Friday.
- The manager doesn't believe a team meeting is necessary, noting that he talks to players -- either in groups or individually -- nearly every day. "We'll be fine, man,'' said Cora. "We know where we're at. Don't get me wrong. But we'll stay the course and we're going to be OK.''