Down to their last out in the ninth inning, the Red Sox got bailed out when J.D. Martinez delivered a two-run homer to carry the them to their best comeback win of the season, 8-7 over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Sox entered the ninth trailing by two, but got singles from Bobby Dalbec and Michael Chavis to begin the inning. A wild pitch and a groundout to the right side scored Dalbec and sent Chavis to third. Martinez, who angrily disputed a called third strike in his previous at-bat, got a hanging slider from Rafael Dolis and connected for his 12th homer of the season.
Matt Barnes then closed it out for his 11th save.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, with the Sox scoring five runs in the second while collecting seven straight two-out hits but then not scoring again until the ninth.
They committed three errors along the way, leading to three unearned runs.
WHO: Red Sox (26-18) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (23-18)
WHEN: 7:37 p.m.
WHERE: TD Ballpark, Dunedin, Fla.
SERIES TO DATE: 1-1
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 2-2
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nick Pivetta (5-0, 3.16) vs. LHP Steven Matz (5-2, 4.29)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM, 93.7
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo RF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Renfroe RF
Dalbec 1B
Chavis 2B
BLUE JAYS
Semien SS
Bichette DH
Guerrero Jr. 1B
Hernandez LF
Grichuk RF
Biggio 2B
Espinal 3B
Jansen C
Davis CF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T9: Huge two-out, two-run homer from J.D. Martinez, who drives a hanging slider out to right field, giving the Red Sox their first lead since the fifth inning.
T8: Hard to believe, after the Red Sox put seven straight men on base in the second inning, that they haven't scored since that inning.
B6: Yet another costly error by the Sox costs them -- third one of the night. Michael Chavis drops a feed from Bogaerts at second, enabling Bo Bichette to slide safely into second. Sure enough, a bloop single from Randal Grichuk into right makes the Sox pay with a run-scoring single.
B6: Bobble in right field by Hunter Renfroe proves costly as Danny Jansen takes an extra base, then trots home on a line single to left by Jonathan Davis.
B5: A couple of well-place ground balls -- one on a hit-and-run which created a hole and another through the shift -- prove costly for the Sox as the Jays rally for two and tie it 5-5.
B5: Rafael Devers picks the wrong hop on a chopper down the third-base line, is charged with an error and a run scores to close the Sox' lead to a solo run.
B4: After a stretch that saw him allow three doubles in the span of four hitters in the first, Pivetta has settled in. He's retired seven in a row and 11 of the last 13.
B2: Nice piece of hitting by Bo Bichette, who takes an inside-out swing and, with some help from the wind, doubles over Renfroe's head, scoring a run.
T2: What a beating -- seven straight hits for the Red Sox, producing five runs. And all coming after two were out.
T2: Some alert -- and aggressive -- baserunning on the part of Michael Chavis, who scores all the way from second on a single off the glove of the glove of Santiago Espinal at third.
T2: Bobby Dalbec continues to mash against lefthanded pitching. Four of his five homers have come against lefties, and that three-run shot wipes out an early 2-0 deficit.
B1: Nick Pivetta knocked around for two runs on three doubles, but strands two in scoring position to limit the damage.
B1: Alex Verdugo can't pick up a flyball from in the sun in left field and the Jays take a quick 1-0 lead.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have won four of their last six and nine of their last 15 games...At 13-6 (.684), the Red Sox own the best winning percentage on the road in MLB...Their 3.66 ERA ranks fourth in the AL and seventh in the majors....On Wednesday night, the Red Sox belted four homers -- the fourth time they've hit four or more in a game this season, the most in MLB.. No other AL team has more than two such games...The Red Sox are out-homering opponents, 57- 32 for a plus-25....That is tied for the largest difference in the majors...Meanwhile, Red Sox pitchers have allowed just 0.79 homers per nine-innings, the lowest rate for any American League staff and second-lowest in the game....To date, Sox pitchers have allowed multiple homers only seven times, including just once over the last 16 games....They remain the only team to not allow three homers in one game this season....This marks just the second time in the last 60 years they have allowed two homers or fewer in each of their first 44 games; they also did so in 1992, going 47 games into the schedule before allowing more than two....The Sox have 30 HR in their last 18 games. most in the majors during that time...They also have hit multiple homers in five of their last 6 games....The Sox currently lead the majors in doubles (99), extra-base hits (159), slugging percentage .448), and OPS (.771)...They're second in runs (224) and batting average (.263) behind only Houston in both categories.....Xander Bogaerts leads MLB n hits (55) and is second in batting average (.346)...J.D. Martinez ranks third in hits (53). Rafael Devers and Martinez are tied for third in the majors in RBI (34). Martinez is tied for second in MLB in total bases (96), while Bogaerts ranks tied for fourth (95)...The Red Sox are 7-7 against Toronto since the start of 2020, including 2-2 this season...Nine of the last 14 meetings have been decided by one or two runs...Nick Pivetta is 7-0 with a 2.91 ERA in his first 10 starts with the Sox..The only pitchers to go unbeaten in their first 11 or more starts with the Red Sox are Matt Clement (2005) & Mike Nagy (1969). This is the second ttime the Sox have won nine or more of a pitcher’s first 10 starts with the club ( John Burkett in 2002, 9-1)...In the club’s last 22 games Red Sox starters have a 3.45 ERA ....Boston starters have allowed one homer or fewer in 26 straight games, the club’s longest streak since 2018....Red Sox starters have thrown at least five innings in each of the club’s last 12 games, their longest streak of the season and six innings or more in eights of their last 12 games.....Sox starters have thrown 5.0 or more innings in 37 games this season, tied with the Dodgers for most in baseball....Danny Jansen is 2-for-3 lifetime against Pivetta while Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is 0-for-3....Christian Vazquez is 2-for-3 with two homers off Steven Matz in his career and Alex Verdugo is 2-for-
NOTES:
* There's every indication that utility man Danny Santana will join the Red Sox for the start of their weekend series in Philadelphia Friday, though manager Alex Cora said he had nothing he could add. Santana, who has been on a rehab assignment at Worcester after a foot infection sidelined him in spring training, has an opt-out in his minor league deal Sunday, increasing the urgency for the Sox to add him to the major league roster soon.
* When Santana comes, someone else will have to go. That could be either INF Michael Chavis or a pitcher. Cora hinted that the Red Sox were re-thinking their roster balance Thursday. They've gone with 14 pitchers and 12 position players since the start of the season, but two off-days next week, plus the interleague series this weekend could have them re-thinking that plan. Also, because Santana is not yet on the 40-man roster, the Sox will have to move someone off their 40-man to make room for him.
* Red Sox pitchers have been taking batting practice and running the base this week in anticipation of interleague play in an NL ballpark. "They've been doing their progressions,'' said Cora. "But hopefully, they don't have to swing the bat over the weekend -- a few bunts, a few takes if they have the lead and keep moving forward. Going into these games, it's difficult. But this is where we're at. (I'm very) concerned about Injuries. There's always a concern. Whenever they hit, you hope for the best.''
* Cora has been joking about Eduardo Rodriguez's ineptitude (0-for-20 lifetime with 10 strikeouts) at the plate. Asked if he had confidence in Rodriguez at the plate, Cora responded: "None at all.''
* Cora said he's looking forward to seeing Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski Friday. "He gave me a chance to be a big league manager,'' said Cora. "He trusted me with a team that had a lot of expectations (in 2018). We worked together well. It didn't end up the way we planned, but things happen. He was one of my biggest supporters (in 2020); once a week, he would make sure to text me or give me a call. I appreciated that. I'm glad he's back in baseball.''