Red Sox’ bullpen silences Jays’ bats, seizing 4-1 victory over Toronto in series opener

On a night when Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito didn’t have his best stuff, Boston dug down deep and delivered a gutsy 4-1 win over the Blue Jays on Tuesday from Rogers Centre.

The Sox’ pitching staff held the Blue Jays to just three hits and 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, stranding nine Toronto batters over the course of the night.

“Big win today, big one, the road trip so far has been a positive one, we’ve got the big boy tomorrow on the mound and we have Bello the last day,” Alex Cora said. “I think offensively we found our stroke, our rhythm in Tampa and today was another good day.”

Giolito survived just 4 2/3 innings, holding Toronto to just one run, but struggled with his command, allowing one earned run off three hits with four walks and three strikeouts. He also worked around a pair of errors from shortstop Trevor Story.

"It wasn't pretty, but at this point, winning games is all that matters ... it's about winning these games, getting into the postseason," Giolito said of his start.

The first error came in the first at-bat, after Story bounced a throw on what should have been a routine grounder from George Springer. Story’s first error didn’t impact Giolito, who responded by forcing three straight pop-outs to end the frame.

His second error came with two outs and two men on in the second inning. Ernie Clement hit a grounder to second, and Romy Gonzalez decided to flip the ball to Story covering second, but he dropped the throw, allowing everyone to reach safely. With the bases juiced, Springer laced what should have been a two-run double over the third base bag that went down the left field line, but it was called foul. Giolito would subsequently strike out Springer, looking at a pitch outside the zone.

The Sox struck first in the second inning, set up by a Masataka Yoshida leadoff double. With two outs, Nathaniel Lowe singled to center field, scoring Yoshida from second. Toronto tied the game in the fourth inning on an Andrés Giménez force-out to Story.

Boston was able to get to Toronto’s starter Kevin Gausman in the fifth, allowing three consecutive hits: Gonzalez doubled, Ceddanne Rafaela singled, and Lowe singled for his second RBI of the night. Slumping catcher Carlos Narváez came through with the big blow, snapping an 0-for-17 streak at the plate with a two-out, two-strike, two-run double to put the Red Sox ahead 4-1.

After the Blue Jays knocked Giolito from the game, the Sox bullpen shut down Toronto’s lineup, but it wasn’t easy, especially for Justin Wilson, who was able to get out of a jam in the fifth. Wilson walked the first batter he faced, and then the trio of Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten, and Aroldis Chapman stifled the Blue Jays bats.

Chapman slammed the door in the ninth for his 32nd save of the season and was aided by an outstanding play by Story to put behind him his tough start to the game earlier in the night.

“That’s what we need,” Cora said of the bullpen’s performance. “We need that, not only to finish the season but to play where we want to play we have to be really good.”

With the win, the Red Sox are now 86-71 and are in the second AL Wild Card spot, one game ahead of the Tigers and one and a half games ahead of the Astros, who play the A’s on Tuesday night. The Guardians continue to play incredible baseball, defeating Tarik Skubal and the Tigers 5-2, moving both teams into a tie for first place in the AL Central. Ideally, the Sox would have wanted the Tigers to win since they own the tiebreaker over the Guardians and not the Tigers.

The Sox and Tigers will play a three-game series to close out the regular season this weekend at Fenway Park.

With five games to go, the Red Sox’ magic number to clinch a spot in the postseason is four, but it could be as little as three if the A’s defeat the Astros late on Tuesday night. 

“We’d all prefer having a much clearer picture of where things stand, but this is why you love sports,” Craig Breslow said to reporters before the game. “This is why you play the game or are in the position that I am here. We’ve got a chance to control our own fate by playing good baseball over this stretch here.”

The two American League East foes will play again Wednesday at 7:07 p.m. Boston's ace, Garrett Crochet (17-5, 2.69 ERA) will start opposite of future Hall of Fame right-hander Max Scherzer (5-4, 5.06 ERA).