Final: Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 0

Chris Sale turned in one of his strongest starts of the season and got home runs from Rafael Devers and Mookie Betts to blank the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0.

Sale allowed just two hits and fanned 12 over six innings to claim his first win at Fenway in more than a calendar year.

Devers cranked a three-run homer in the fifth and Betts added a solo shot in the eighth as the Sox close out a homestand by taking three-of-four from Toronto.

WHO: Red Sox (52-44) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (36-61)
WHEN: 1:05 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: Boston 2-1
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: Boston 9-6
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (3-9, 4.27) vs. LHP Thomas Pannone (2-3, 6.18)
TV/RADIO:  NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM

IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:

3:16   Betts homers into the light tower in left-center field. Somewhat quietly, he's had a monster homestand -- 12-for-28 with nine runs scored in seven games.

3:00  At exactly 100 pitches, it would seem Sale is done for the afternoon. Marcus Walden is warming. Surprised that they're not pushing him for another, given the workload of the bullpen lately.

2:39   The Rafael Devers Show continues. He hammers a pitch -- a four-seamer down-and-in, his sweet spot -- and drives it into the home bullpen for a three-run shot.

2:32  Red Sox scratched out a run with some help from unlikely contributors - Sam Travis smacks a one-out double down the left field line, followed by a single to center  from Sandy Leon.

1:55   Sale seems to have made a conscious tradeoff today -- less velocity for more improved fastball location. Hard to argue with the results: one hit allowed, seven strikeouts through three innings.

1:20  Both Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts produce first-inning singles and in the process, extend their hitting streaks to 10 games.

1:13  Encouraging start for Chris Sale, who fans the side in the top of the first - even though his fastball never topped 92 mph.

LINEUPS:



RED SOX

Betts CF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez RF
Vazquez DH
Chavis 2B
Benintendi LF
Travis 1B
Leon C

BLUE JAYS

Galvis SS
Grichuk RF
Gurriel LF
Smoak 1B
Jansen C
Guerrero DH
Hernandez CF
Biggio 2B
Drury 3B

WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox bounced back with a 5-4 win Wednesday night...The Sox are 8-4 in their last 12 games and 18-10 in their last 28...Mookie Betts has scored runs in each of the last 12 games, the longest streak since Nomar Garciaparra has a 12-game streak in 1998....The last time a Red Sox player had a longer streak was 13 games by Ted Williams in 1946....Betts has a nine-game hitting streak, during which he's hitting .447 (17-for-38)...He's scored runs in 23 of the last 25 games...In 12 July games, Rafael Devers has six homers and 20 RBI....Since moving the No. 2 spot, he's hitting .406 (28-for-69) with a 1.258 OPS with 15 extra-base hits  and more walks than strikeouts....Devers has seven homers and 25 RBI against Toronto this year..That's the most RBI for a Sox player against a single team since Manny Ramirez had 25 against Tampa Bay in 2002....Xander Bogaerts has a nine-game hitting streak, with multiple hits recorded in each of the last five games...He's 13-for-21 (.619) in that span with five extra-base hits....Bogaerts ranks fourth in WAR among position players with 4.6...Only Mike Trout (6.5), Cody Bellinger (6.0) and Christian Yelich (5.5) are ahead of him....The Sox are 14-3 in their last 17 getaway games and 19-11 in series finale, including 17-7 in their last 24 such games....Michael Chavis leads AL Rookies in RBI (52), runs scored (41), and is tied for second in homers (16) and hits (75)...The Sox have 24 outfield assists as a team, most in baseball...Chris Sale has 10 starts in which he struck out 10 or more hitters this season. Only Gerrit Cole (11) has more.... Sale has allowed five or more runs in each of his last three outings and hasn't pitched into the seventh inning since June 10....Randal Grichuk is 6-for-15 (.400) with two homers against Sale....Freddy Galvis is 6-for-13 (.462)...Teoscar Hernandez is 2-for-11 with four strikeouts....J.D. Martinez is 2-for-2 against Toronto starter Thomas Pannone….Bogaerts is 1-for-2.