Two strikes away from a shutout win in the top of the ninth, the Red Sox saw their victory delayed, but not for long. Rafael Devers swatted a single high off The Wall in left center, giving the Sox their second walk-off win in the last four games, a 2-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Brought in to secure a three-out save with Sox up 1-0, Matt Barnes got two quick outs before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his fourth homer of the series to tie the game with his 21st homer of the season.
Nathan Eovaldi was brilliant over 6.2 innings and Josh Taylor retired all four hitters he faced in relief before Guerrero's homer spoiled their efforts.
Eovaldi didn't allow a run and yielded just three hits and a walk in his start, coming as it did after the Sox were pounded for 25 runs in the previous two games.
WHO: Red Sox (39-27) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (33-30)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: TOR 2-1
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 4-4
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (7-3, 4.11) vs. RHP Alex Manoah (1-0, 3.14)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
BLUE JAYS
Semien 2B
Bichette SS
Guerrero Jr. DH
Hernandez RF
Grichuk CF
Tellez 1B
Gurriel Jr. LF
Biggio 3B
McGuire C
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo RF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Arroyo 2B
Gonzalez LF
Dalbec 1B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T9: Didn't seen like a bad pitch from Matt Barnes -- a curveball, low on the outer half -- but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is on everything these days and he hammered that over everything for his 21st homer, two strikes away from Sox recording a shutout victory.
T8: It's hard to overstate how good Taylor has been for the past month. He's now had 18 straight scoreless appearances, covering 14 innings. He faces four hitters tonight and fanned three of them. The last one run to score on him came back on April 24.
T7: That's it for Eovaldi, who gets a double play and leaves a baserunner at third for Josh Taylor, who faces Rowdy Tellez.
T6: Eovaldi has been masterful - two baserunners allowed through six innings and just 76 pitches needed. He's in line to give them eight innings, but more importantly, has thrown up one scoreless inning after another after the Sox allowed 25 runs in the previous two games.
B5: Marwin Gonzalez, who came into tonight 0-for-18, collects his second hit of the night -- this one, an opposite-field, line single to left field.
T4: First hit of the night for the Blue Jays is a one-out line single to center by Bo Bichette. Nathan Eovaldi had retired the first 10 Toronto hitters he faced.
B3: With two out, Alex Verdugo bangs a double halfway up The Wall, scoring Kike Hernandez from first base with the first run of the game. Verdugo's double snapped an 0-for-8 skid. Almost a third of Verdugo's hits this season have been to the opposite field.
T1: Nathan Eovaldi -- with considerable help from Rafael Devers, who makes a fine, backhand grab on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the final out -- records a 1-2-3 inning. The last pitcher to accomplish that for the Red Sox was Marwin Gonzalez, in the eighth inning Sunday.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have dropped two straight and four of their last six and sit three games back in the American League East, for the largest deficit of the season...In the last two games, the Sox have allowed 25 runs and 13 homers...In the last six games, the Red Sox have allowed 53 runs, just shy of an average of nine per game......The four losses on this homestand have dropped the Sox' home record at Fenway to 20-18...Red Sox starters have been unable to go at least five innings in four of the last seven games...Prior to this skid, Red Sox starters had provided at least five innings in 35 of the previous 38 games....Sox starters have thrown five or more innings 53 times, third most in the majors behind only OAK (56) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (55)....The Sox are 34- 19 (.642) when their starter lasts five or more innings and 5-8 when they throw fewer than five innings.....: In their first first seven games this month, Red Sox pitchers posted a 2.47 ERA with just five homers the allowed...In the six games since, they have an 8.50 ERA with a .362 opponent AVG and 20 HR allowed...After allowing two home runs or fewer in each of their first 64 games, Red Sox pitchers surrendered 5 HR on Saturday and a franchise-record 8 HR Sunday ..It is the club’s first time ever giving up five or more homers in consecutive games....Despite the last two games, the Red Sox still lead the American League with the lowest home run rate at 0.99 HR/9.0 IP.....: The Red Sox lead the majors in doubles (143) and extra-base hits (230)...They rank third in slugging (.433). The Sox have scored 10 or more runs an AL-best 8 times. The Sox are an MLB-best 35-4 (.897) when scoring four or more runs...They are 30-3 when scoring five or more runs, 25-1 when scoring six or more runs, and 18-0 when scoring seven or more runs...Nathan Eovaldi leads MLB in HR/9.0 IP (0.37)...His three HR allowed are the fewest among qualified MLB pitchers. Ranks among the top 10 in the AL in wins (T-2nd, 7), FIP (3rd, 2.63) & BB/9.0 IP (10th, 2.11). Ranks 6th in the AL in % of batted balls that have been barreled (6.0%)....Cavan Biggio is 2-for-5 lifetime against Eovaldi with two homers and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is 3-for-5 in his career....Christian Arroyo has not committed an error at second base over 58 games in his career...J.D. Martinez has a four-game hitting streak...Bobby Dalbec has a four-game hitting streak with four of the five hits for extra-bases: two homers, a double and a triple...Xander Bogaerts has hit in nine straight games....Marwin Gonzalez is hitless in his last 15 at-bats and is just 8-for-64 in his last 22 games.
NEWS:
* The Red Sox designated RHP Ryan Weber for assignment and recalled Michael Chavis from Worcester. The timing off the move seems odds since it drops the number of pitchers on the roster from 14 to 13 at a time when the staff has been getitng rocked. But because Weber ate up 5.1 innings Sunday and the Sox finished up with two innings from position players, it gave the bullpen a chance to re-set.
* The Sox announced that they acquired righthanded pitcher Yacksel Rios from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for future considerations. Rios, 27, has spent time with the Phillies, Pirates and Mariners and has a 5-2 record with 6.47 ERA. He was a 12th-round pick of the Phillies in 2011. Rios has been added to the 40-man roster and will be assigned to Triple A Worcester.