BSJ Game Report: Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3 - Ceddanne Rafaela misplay costs Chris Sale a win in stellar start

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Chris Sale dominant in his best start of the season: Sale held the Blue Jays to no hits through 4.2 innings before Alejandro Kirk ended his attempt at the feat, in play due to Sale's low pitch count, with a long single over Alex Verdugo's head in right field that Verdugo fired into second base to down Kirk and end the inning. Sale returned for the sixth inning and recorded an out after the fifth for the first time since May 20, striking out Kevin Kiermaier with his vintage slider dropping into the dirt before downing George Springer and Bo Bichette with well-placed outside pitches. 

Sale allowed only two hits over 6.0 innings, the second a solo home run to Vlad Guerrero Jr. on the first at-bat of the seventh inning that ended Sale's night. Sale appealed to Alex Cora to stay in, but the manager stood firm and called on Josh Winckowski, who loaded the bases before Brennan Bernardino escaped the inning and preserved Sale's win. Chris Martin held the lead in the eighth, and John Schreiber nearly earned the save, and Sale a win, before Boston blew the lead in the ninth. 

Rafael Devers' blast not enough on another slow hitting day: A long line drive by Daulton Varsho over Ceddanne Rafaela's head on a bad read by the center fielder scored Cavan Biggio to erase the 2-1 lead Devers built with a two-run homer in the sixth inning. Pablo Reyes hit a go-ahead single in the 12th inning that Varsho matched by barely sneaking in ahead of Verdugo's throw on a Bichette sacrifice fly in the bottom half off Zack Weiss. 

Boston finished the game 5-43 (.116) at the plate with five walks, two intentional passes to Devers, and 11 strikeouts. They had scored 0 runs on Friday (.156). Justin Turner stranded Luis Urías on third in the 13th inning as the go-ahead run before Toronto pushed Guerrero across for the game-winner with a pair of ground balls in the bottom half. 

FOUR UP

Chris Sale: Threw 66.7% of his 81 pitches for strikes and struck out 10 Jays batters, flashing some of his best stuff late in a stellar outing that finally generated some positive momentum toward next season. Unlike his last excellent start, a 4.2-inning win over a bad Tigers team, Sale no-hit a powerful Jays lineup for nearly five innings, downing Bichette and David Schneider with low sliders after pitching around Guerrero in the first. Sale fell below 90 miles-per-hour with his fastball early in the start, and leaned on accuracy and mixing pitches rather than overpowering a Toronto team that found its game-winning swing on Brayan Bello's fastball on Saturday. Guerrero struck again in the seventh to end Sale's attempt at going long, reaching and pulling an outside slider to left field for a solo shot. Sale couldn't have pitched worse in August. Saturday showed his stuff best remains within reach. 

"I think just being able to get an extra couple of days of rest, I felt like it helped my command. Not trying to play catch-up out there, being able to throw things where I wanted to throw them. That was nice," Sale said. "I'm tough on myself, I have high expectations. I've been absent for a while, so when I'm out there I like to at least do what I'm supposed to do. Today was a step in the right direction for sure. Commanding both sides of the plate (with the slider), getting it on both sides of the strike zone and playing with the speed a little bit." 

Chris Martin: Saw his ERA fall to 1.09 by escaping damage in the eighth inning. He hasn't allowed a run in 18 consecutive appearances, last slipping up on July 28, and his ERA fell below 0.30 over 35 appearances since he gave up a run before that (June 6). Boston led 2-1 when he entered, allowing one-out singles to Bichette and Guerrero that put the game-tying run at third. Credit to Verdugo, who ran in on Schneider's fly ball and quickly got it home to prevent a game-tying sacrifice fly. He also downed Kirk trying to extend his single to a double against Sale in the fourth, adding two more highlights to a potential gold glove season. If Martin can finish his season this scoreless stretch, this will go down as the best non-closer relief performance in recent Sox history. 

Rafael Devers: Devers launched a two-run blast, his 32nd homer, to begin the sixth inning, nearly providing all the support Sale needed in the pitcher's duel against Chris Bassitt. Wilyer Abreu led off the frame with a walk and stole second, then Devers swung through an off-speed pitch, let two pass, then hammered an outside fastball over the wall in left field. Boston's offense otherwise sputtered through the first two games of the series, shut out for only the seventh time all season on Friday before starting 1-9 on Saturday. Devers finished 1-4 with a pair of intentional walks. Whit Merrifield's game-winning infield single probably rolled too slowly to him to expect a play, but with two outs he had the chance to down the runner. That's not enough to keep him out of this category as his offensive success in the two-hole continues.

Alex Verdugo: Loved his put out on Kirk in the fourth, strong throw that stopped a potential game-tying sacrifice fly in the eighth and a nearly game-winning laser that Varsho narrowly beat on the game-tying sacrifice fly in the 13th. Verdugo hit 0-5 and struck out three times, the inconsistency that places his Sox future in question, but his excellent fielding would be missed if Boston moved on from him this offseason. 

THREE DOWN 

Ceddanne Rafaela: Entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch hitter for Abreu to sneak in an at-bat, striking out on a 2-2 sinker against lefty Tim Mayza before taking over in center fielder in the bottom half. Springer's single gave Rafaela a small taste of action to warm up defensively, splitting time between the infield and outfield since his call-up, but his second play with two outs in the ninth on a sharp liner by Daulton Varsho cost the Sox as Cavan Biggio scored the game-tying run following his hit on John Schreiber. 

Varsho raced to third base after his hit flew over Rafaela's head on a bad read on what should've been a game-ending routine flyout. Schreiber retired Springer on the ground to send the game to extra innings, but Rafaela, known for his glove, joined the lowlight reel of defensive miscues by arguably the worst defensive team in baseball. He grounded out in the 13th inning with a chance to redeem himself with the go-ahead run on third. 

Josh Wincowski: Hard to imagine Sale pitching worse than Wincowski did after Cora removed the starter in the seventh inning. Wincowski walked Sergio Espinal on a 3-2 cutter inside after he recorded the first out on Schneider. Then, he threw four bad balls in a row to lose control of an 0-2 count against Whit Merrifield. Matt Chapman swung on a ball late in the count in the next at-bat, but Kirk didn't, laying off an outside sinker to load the bases. Cora called on Brennan Bernardino to end the inning and strand all three runners against pinch hitter Ernie Clement, narrowly avoiding disaster. 

Adam Duvall: Showing nothing in uncompetitive at-bats as the worst slump by any Sox player this season extended to 3-39 this month (.077). 

NOTABLE 

The Red Sox placed 1B Triston Casas (shoulder) on the 10-day IL after undergoing imaging. Boston recalled 1B Bobby Dalbec from Triple-A Worcester, who arrived at the game during extra innings. The move possibly signals the end of the season for Casas, who hit .263 with 70 walks and 24 home runs as one of the top contenders for AL rookie of the year. 

RHP Corey Kluber will not pitch for the Red Sox after undergoing rehab with Triple-A Worcester this month following his June injury that's sidelined him since. He'll return home to continue recovery ahead of the winter, when he'll become a free agent at 38 after the Sox almost certainly decline his $11-million club option. Kluber posted a 7.04 ERA in 15 appearances after Boston signed him as the team's opening-day starter last winter. 

The Red Sox fell into outright last place in the AL East behind the Yankees with their loss on Friday for the first time since July 15. 

UP NEXT 

Sunday vs. Blue Jays at 1:37 p.m., LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-3, 2.93) vs. RHP Nick Pivetta (9-9, 4.56 ERA)