Red Sox recap: Boston blow’s six-run lead, lose to Blue Jays on walk-off hit in extra innings

Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito hasn’t pitched in a Major League game in 577 days, and by the way he looked on the mound over his first five innings, you would have never known it.

Giolito looked great in his team's 2025 debut before running out of gas in his final inning of work. He allowed three runs off five hits with two walks while striking out seven in six innings on Wednesday night.

The righty was excellent over his first five frames, allowing back-to-back homers, a two-run blast to Daulton Varsho and a solo shot to Alejandro Kirk. Giolito threw 90 pitches on the night, 61 of them for strikes.

“Good fastball, good changeup, moving the ball around— he did an outstanding job,” Alex Cora said. “If we get this version of Lucas, we’re going to be in good shape.”

Giolito looked impressive in the third inning after he allowed a pair of singles before shutting down the middle of the Blue Jays order down. He struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. by painting the corner of the plate with a 96 mph fastball. With one out, he would force Santander to fly out and then struck out UConn alum George Springer on three straight changeups.

“We walked George with two outs; I think Gio was up 0-2 in that at bat, and we walked him, and then Varsho hit a homer, and Kirk hit a homer,” Cora said. “The walk changed the whole game.”

The 96 mph fastball was his fastest pitch of the night, according to Statcast. Giolito would set down 11 straight batters before running into trouble in the sixth inning.

“I thought I pitched well until the sixth, in the sixth inning some crucial, crucial mistakes,” Giolito said following the game. “I’ve got to finish stronger.”

After Springer drew a walk, Toronto inflicted damage with consecutive home runs from Varsho and Kirk. Giolito would finish the inning, earning a quality start and appearing to be in line for his first victory.

Boston would officially blow their six-run lead in the seventh inning after Cora turned the ball over to Garrett Whitlock. With Toronto trailing by three runs, the Jays’ Anthony Santander crushed a game-tying three-run homer.

Overall, Giolito was impressive in his debut, considering his long layoff on the mound. The right-handed hurler had been on the injured list recovering from internal brace elbow surgery and a low-grade left hamstring strain in his first and only outing of the spring. He hadn’t thrown particularly well in the minors, giving up 10 runs off 18 hits while walking 13 and striking out 17 in five starts for the Portland Sea Dogs and the Worcester Red Sox.

HOW THE RED SOX TOOK THE LEAD

The Red Sox offense quickly sprinted to a lead in the first inning after Jarren Duran worked a leadoff walk but then was thrown out trying to score at home after Rafael Devers smoked a double off the wall in right field.

With Devers on second base, Blue Jays starter Yariel Rodriguez threw a wild pitch that went behind the back of Alex Bregman. Devers then scored following a balk by the Jays’ righty.

Bregman, who appeared to have taken exception to Rodriguez's throwing behind his back, demolished a solo blast over the wall in left field for his seventh home run. His blast went 398 feet and wrapped up the month of April as one of the game’s best hitters after typically starting a season statistically slow.

Boston added two more runs in the second after Duran singled home Ceddanne Rafaela, who reached on a walk. Devers banged a double off the wall in left-center field over the head of Varsho, scoring Duran, and the Sox were up 4-0.

The Red Sox extended their lead by two more runs after catcher Carlos Narváez hit a two-run home run in the sixth, making it 6-0.

Despite putting up six runs on the board, the offense was produced by the top three hitters in Duran, Devers, and Bregman, combining for five hits. The rest of the Sox lineup managed just two hits.

“We didn’t do much offensively; I think it was one baserunner from the sixth inning on,” Cora told reporters afterwards. “We didn’t put too much pressure on them, so we’ve got to finish games.”

Triston Casas continues to struggle at the plate, going 0-for-2 with a walk and two strikeouts.

BLUE JAYS FOUGHT BACK

Whitlock wasn’t sharp in his two innings of relief, allowing a game-tying three-run Santander in the seventh.

Aroldis Chapman would help send the Sox to extra innings after striking out Guerrero Jr. and then stared him down to end the inning.

Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman struck out Bregman swinging to begin the 10th inning, forced Trevor Story to ground out, and Wilyer Abreu to strike out.

In the bottom of the 10th, Cora summoned Justin Slaten out of the bullpen, and after Santander moved Guerrero Jr. (ghost runner) to third base, he was asked to intentionally walk the next two batters to load the bases and set up a ground-ball double play. Instead, Kirk laced a line drive single into left field, catapulting the Blue Jays to the 7-6 victory in extras.

SERIES FINALE

Boston will turn to Tanner Houck (0-2, 7.58 ERA) in the series finale, and he will be opposed by right-hander José Berríos (1-1, 4.24). The first pitch from the Rogers Centre will be at 7:07 p.m., and the game can be seen on NESN.