Another late-inning comeback, another win for the Red Sox.
Alex Verdugo smacked a two-run homer over the home bullpen in the bottom of the eighth inning, sending the Sox to a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays for their sixth win in the last seven games.
The Sox had taken a 2-0 lead early, but the Jays stormed back with two in the third and another two in the fifth off starter NIck Pivetta.
Rafael Devers also homered for the Sox, his team-leading 27th.
WHO: Red Sox (61-39) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (49-46)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 7-4
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nick Pivetta (8-4, 4.37) vs. RHP Thomas Hatch (2021 season debut)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Springer DH
Guerrero 1B
Semien 2B
Bichette SS
Hernandez RF
Gurriel LF
Grichuk CF
Biggio 3B
McGuire C
RED SOX
Hernandez SS
Duran CF
Martinez DH
Devers 3B
Renfroe RF
Verdugo LF
Vazquez C
Cordero 1B
Chavis 2B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B8: Alex Verdugo gets a changeup that's left out over the plate and drives it out, over the home bullpen, with Renfroe (walk) aboard and gives the Red Sox a lead.
T6: For the second straight relief outing, Valdez is a revelation. He's faced four hitters so far and retired them all, two by strikeout.
B5: Alex Verdugo laces a shot to right off reliever Adam Cimber, but it's right at Teoscar Hernandez, stranding Devers at second.
T5: Two batters earlier, Alex Cora had come out to talk with Pivetta and left him in the game. Pivetta got Marcus Semien on a flyout, but Bo Bichette just hit a rocket into the Monster Seats for a two-run shot and the Jays have their first lead of the night. Pivetta done, Phillips Valdez on.
B3: A four-seamer From Toronto starter Thomas Hatch, down-and-in -- right in the sweet spot for Rafael Devers, who belts it in the right field seats for a 3-2 Red Sox lead. No. 27, if you're keeping track
T3: Blue Jays put the first four hitters on base (three singles and a walk) and have tied things against Pivetta, who experiences his bad inning in the third tonight instead of the first.
B2: Michael Chavis hits a chopper to short, enough to deliver Verdugo from third and up the Sox' lead to 2-0.
B2: Sharp single up the middle from Alex Verdugo, scoring Renfroe easily. Verdugo takes second when Randal Grichuk decides to throw home for no apparent reason.
B2: Hunter Renfroe with a shot to straightaway center that misses landing in the bleachers by about two feet. Leadoff double for Renfroe, who appears to be hitting the ball hard again over the last few days.
T2: Nick Pivetta gets through the first two innings unscathed, which is rate. In the first inning alone, before tonight, he had a 5.21 ERA and an OPS allowed of .909.
WHAT'S UP: At 61-39 (.610), the Red Sox are tied with the Astros for the AL’s best record...They are 22 games above .500, matching their season high (54-32 and 60-38). The Sox have won five of their last six games...They are 29-16 (.644) in their last 45 games (beginning 6/3).....This is the 15th time the Red Sox have won at least 61 of their first 100 games, doing so most recently in 2018, 2011, 2007, 2006, and 1995. Under the 10-team playoff format from 2012-19, all 14 teams that won at least 61 of their first 100 games made the postseason, with six advancing to the World Series....The Red Sox entered the bottom of the eight inning yesterday being no-hit and trailing the Yankees 4-0...The Sox recorded five consecutive hits to begin the eighth and scored five runs to take the decisive 5-4 lead. Yesterday marked only the second time in the expansion era (1961-present) the Red Sox won a game in which they were no-hit through seven innings...They also did that on 10/3/1999 at BAL, when they earned a 1-0 win in 10 innings (no hits through 7.2 innings)....Yesterday’s four-run deficit matched the Sox’ largest deficit overcome to win in 2021...They also overcame four-run deficits to win on June 11 vs. TOR and J ne 28 vs. KC. The Sox lead MLB with 32 come-from-behind wins. According to Elias, the only teams that are unbeaten when holding a lead of four or more runs are the Red Sox (36- 0), Brewers (33-0), and Cleveland (22-0)..The Red Sox regained sole possession of 1st place in the AL East...TB had moved into a tie for 1st on July 24 after the Sox owned sole possession from June 27-July 23. The Sox are 27-13 (.675) vs. AL East teams...: The Red Sox are 12-9 against the Blue Jays since the start of 2020, including 7-4 this season...Twelve of the last 21 meetings have been decided by one or two runs. This is the Blue Jays’ final trip to Boston this season... Following this four-game series, the teams will conclude their season series with four games in Toronto from Aug. 6-8....The Red Sox are 31-20 (.608) at home, the fourth-best record in the AL (10th-best in MLB).....They are 16-7 (.696) at home since Fenway opened to full capacity on May 29, including 12-3 in their last 15 games. In their last 3 homestands (14 games beginning June 25), the Sox have averaged 6.3 runs per game while recording a .294/.363/.502/.864 batting line...Following this homestand, the Red Sox will travel for a 10-day, 10-game trip to play the Rays (three G), Tigers (three G), and Blue Jays (four G)...The Red Sox have the AL’s best road record (30-19, .612), second-best in MLB...They have a 3.83 ERA on the road seventh in MLB) and a 4.28 ERA at home (21st)....The Red Sox lead MLB with 30 OF assists...Sox outfielders rank tied for second in the majors with 17 defensive runs saved (source: FanGraphs).....:In their last 26 games (beginning June 24), Red Sox starters own a 3.62 ERA....Sox starters have thrown five or more innings 76 times, tied for fourth-most in MLB; the Sox are 50-26 (.658) in those games......Red Sox relievers rank third in the AL and seventh in MLB in ERA (3.60)...Their eight active relievers have a combined 2.93 ERA for Boston this season....Beginning April 30, Josh Taylor has allowed 0 runs in 30 of his last 31 outings...Among the 230 pitchers with at least 40.0 innings this season, Garrett Whitlock ranks first in the AL and second in the majors with a 1.31 ERA (deGrom-1.08). Whitlock has made 17 scoreless appearances of more than 1.0 IP, most in MLB...He is the first Sox pitcher with 17 such games in a season since Derek Lowe in 2000 (17); the last Sox pitcher with 18 or more was Lowe in 1999 (22)....The Red Sox rank in the top 5 in the majors in runs scored (third, 509), AVG (third, .257), SLG (second, .442), OPS (fourth, .762), doubles (first, 215), and XBH (first , 356)... The Sox have hit four or more HR in a game an MLB-best 10 times, including in five of their last 23 games...In that 23-game span, they lead the AL with 38 HR. The Sox own MLB’s best records when scoring four or more runs (54-7, .885) and five or more runs (47-4, .922)...They have scored 10+ runs in a game 13 times, tied with the Blue Jays for most in the AL and second-most in MLB (CIN-14) ....Nick Pivetta has thrown six or more innings in nine of his 19 starts, and five or more innings in 15 of them...Tossed 6.2 or more innings in three of his last 5 starts... Recorded 74 SO over 10 starts, his most in any 10-game span of his career....He leads Sox starters in opponent AVG (.234) and strikeouts (117) and ranks 2nd in WHIP (1.32) and SO/9.0 IP (10.22).
NOTES:
* Chris Sale rebounded well from his Sunday rehab start in Portland and will make his fourth rehab start Saturday in Worcester. "He's been able to repeat his delivery,'' said Alex Cora. "He loves the fact that his fastball command is there, the velocity is there. Everything's trending the right way.'' Cora noted that the upcoming start will not be the final one for Sale at the minor league level. That would move his return to the major league team past Aug. 9.
* Xander Bogaerts was given the night off with Kike Hernandez taking over for the night at shortstop. Rafael Devers will be off Thursday and Christian Vazquez will be off Wednesday.
* Kike Hernandez was named American League Player of the Week, the first time he'd been awarded such honors -- in either league -- in his career. For the week, Hernandez hit .400 with three homers and eight RBI "He's doing an amazing job,'' said Cora. "Hitting the ball hard, playing good defense, and running the bases well. He been doing a great job.''
* Hirokazu Sawamura, who was placed on the IL last week with inflammation of the triceps, was due to play catch Monday and could begin a rehab assignment with Triple A Worcester as soon as Tuesday.