Having staked the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-1 lead, the Red Sox came storming back with six runs in the span of four innings, winning in walk-off fashion on Christian Vazquez's two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th, 7-5.
Marco Hernandez was hit by a pitch with two out and Vazquez finished off a seven-pitch at-bat against Toronto reliever Jordan Romano by driving a pitch into the Red Sox bullpen.
The Sox scored three in the seventh and tied it in the eighth.
The game was the fourth extra-inning contest for the Red Sox in the last 11 games.
Chris Sale was roughed up for two in the first and two more in the third and was done after five.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: Boston 4-2
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (3-7, 3.49) vs. RHP Trent Thornton (2-5, 4.36)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:15 One-out triple from Jackie Bradley Jr and a pinch-hit single by Rafael Devers ties the game at 5-5 as Sox have come back from a four-run
9:46 An RBI double to RF for Xander Bogaerts scores Benintendi as Sox climb to within two. That's six straight games with a double for Bogaerts.
9:42 Incidentally, that's the third triple in the last five games for Betts. Before last Sunday, he didn't have any this season.
9:39 A one-out triple by Mookie Betts and an opposite-field single by Andrew Benintendi produces a run for the Sox.
9:15 Eduardo Nunez goes down swinging to end the inning, stranding runners at second and third. Sox are 0-for-5 with RISP.
8:55 Sale is done after just five innings, with the 36 pitch first inning helping do him in. This start was a little reminiscent of the home opener in which Sale was smacked around for five runs in four inning. Colten Brewer on for the sixth.
8:31 Sale's most impressive inning to date - a 1-2-3 fourth, with seemingly more power to his fastball, resulting in two strikeouts, both swinging.
8:23 Sox manage a run on two singles and a sacrifice fly from Brock Holt, but leave two. They've stranded six baserunners over three innings.
8:07 A changeup from Sale, down and in, is driven into the Monster Seats by Randal Grichuk, doubling the Blue Jays' lead to 4-0.
7:52 Presumably, with 52 pitches through just two innings, this will be a shorter outing for Sale. But Thursday's off-day means the bullpen has had some rest.
7:48 Looks like Sale has figured some things out - three straight, with liberal use of his slider.
7:29 Two-run single from Freddy Galvis. Benintendi's throw home gets past Christian Vazquez and Sale not backing up home plate.
7:27 Rocky first inning for Chris Sale who has walked back-to-back hitters, loaded the bases and thrown 30 pitches already. The two walks are equal to what he allowed in his last three starts.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Holt 2B
Chavis 1B
Bradley CF
Nunez 3B
Leon C
BLUE JAYS
Sogard 2B
Guerrero Jr. DH
Gurriel LF
Hernandez CF
Grichuk RF
Galvis SS
Jansen C
McKinney 1B
Drury 3B
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have gone 7-1 in their last eight games and are 2-0-1 in their last three series...The Sox are back home after a successful road trip that saw them go 5-1 and outscore their opponents 42-18...On the trip, the Sox hit .307 with an .880 OPS while pitching to a 2.31 ERA....The Sox begin a six-game homestand having played just 34 home games, the fewest in the American League...The Sox are just 3-7 in their last 10 games....Beginning tonight, 10 of the Red Sox' next 21 games are against Toronto...Since the start of 2017, the 32-12 against the Jays, including an 11-2 mark at Fenway....Three of the last four Sox games have lasted more than four hours...The Sox have had seven games of four hours or more in duration, the most in the majors....They've also played eight extra-inning games, tied for tops in the A.L...The Sox lead the majors in batting average against RHP (.271) and OBP (.351)...Since May 1, the Red Sox have slashed .289/.367/.498....The Sox also lead the majors in pinch-hitting, going 17-for-38 (.447) with a .543 OBP and a 1.333 OPS...They also have three pinch-homers, tying them for second in the A.L....Boston leads the majors with 19 outfield assists and five outfield double-plays, most in the American League....Sox outfielders have committed just three errors, fewest in MLB....Four different Red Sox players have current hitting streaks of five games or more: Michael Chavis (9 games); Christian Vazquez (six); Andrew Benintendi (five) and Xander Bogaerts (five)...Since returning from the IL, Brock Holt is batting .371 with a .929 OPS with 13 RBI and 14 runs scored in 18 games...Over the last 29 games, Jackie Bradley Jr. is slashing .291/.391/.606 with 17 RBI, 16 runs and 17 extra-base hits and seven homers....Since April 29, the Sox lead the A.L. in runs per game, batting average, OBP and are second in slugging, OPS and home runs....Red Sox pitchers have 765 strikeouts, tied with Houston for the most in the majors...Since May 1, their staff ERA is fifth best at 3.75...Xander Bogaerts leads AL shortstops in: runs (58), doubles (24), extra-base hits (38); RBI (49); walks (45) and OBP (.391)...He also leads all shortstops in the league in WAR, at 3.5....Bogaerts has doubled in five straight games....Andrew Benintendi, who has hit in five straight, has scored runs in 10 of his last 14 games....Mookie Betts has hit in four straight and eight of his last 15 hits have gone for extra bases....Since going hitless for a four-game stretch earlier this month, Rafael Devers is slashing .381/.395/.667.....Chavis has hit in nine straight games, the longest streak for a Sox rookie since Benintendi hit in 11 straight in August of 2017....Chris Sale has struck out 10 or mote in his each of his last four starts.....Over his last 10 starts, Sale's ERA is 2.14 while opponents have hit just .165...He leads MLB in games with 10 or more strikeouts this season with nine...Randal Grichuk is 4-for-10 with a homer off Sale in his career while Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is just 2-for-9 with four strikeouts...The Sox have never faced Trent Thornton before.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Rafael Devers (hamstring) is being held out of tonight's game but Alex Cora believes he should be ready to play against Saturday.
- 1B Steve Pearce (back) is set to play his second consecutive game at Pawtucket.
- 1B Mitch Moreland (calf) ran some in the afternoon and was set to take ground balls, but with the wet conditions, the Sox postponed that until Saturday.
- RHP Steven Wright, who is eligible to come back from his 80-game suspension Tuesday, pitched earlier in the week for Pawtucket, will throw in one more game before rejoining the team. Cora reiterated that Wright will likely be relegated to bullpen duty when he comes back because of concerns over what starting could mean for his surgically-repaired knee. "Can he go deep in games because of the knee?'' said Cora. "Baseball-wise, it makes sense, but medically, it comes into play. Can he do that? Last year, we decided the best way was to put him in the bullpen for shorter stints. But as of now, everything's been possible. The feedback so far and staying in touch with him, he feels great.''
- RHP Nathan Eovaldi threw 90 feet as he continues to ramp up his throwing program.
- The Sox will make a small adjustment to their starting rotation against the White Sox next week, flip-flopping Eduardo Rodriguez and David Price. Price will start Tuesday -- on six days' rest -- and Rodriguez will go Monday on regular rest
- Cora also said that Rick Porcello and Rodriguez will pitch the two games in Lonson.