Red Sox beat Blue Jays 5-0 as Ranger Suárez dominates with 8 scoreless innings, 10 strikeouts

The Red Sox improved to 12-17 and 2-0 under interim manager Chad Tracy behind a dominant outing from Ranger Suárez, defeating the Blue Jays 5-0 on Monday night at Rogers Centre.

Suárez was electric, tossing eight scoreless innings for the second time in three starts. He held Toronto hitless until the sixth inning, when Jesús Sánchez broke it up with a leadoff double down the left-field line.

He allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out a season-high 10, recording his second eight-inning shutout outing of the year. Suárez generated 14 swings and misses, five with his curveball, four with his cutter, two each with his changeup and four-seamer, and one with his sinker, according to Baseball Savant.

“He was absolutely outstanding,” Tracy told reporters. “He just commanded the game.”

Monday’s start marked the third time in his last four outings that Suárez has looked the part for Boston. The left-hander generated 14 swings and misses, carving up the Blue Jays lineup with a well-balanced mix of pitches.

Toronto countered with Dylan Cease, who signed a seven-year, $210-million deal this offseason. Cease cruised early, needing just 35 pitches to get through the first three innings while striking out five. But the next 2 2/3 innings told a different story; he threw 72 pitches over that stretch, walked three, and the Red Sox capitalized.

Marcelo Mayer drove in the game’s first run with a 101.3 mph single in the fourth and later scored after drawing a walk in the sixth, finishing 2-for-3.

The 23-year-old has faced mostly right-handed pitching this season, with 21 of his 23 starts coming against righties and just three plate appearances against left-handers. Tracy said before the game that he wants to see Mayer get more opportunities against both.

Cease issued a one-out walk to Caleb Durbin in the fifth, but the damage came with two outs. Jarren Duran reached on a fielder’s choice, then Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch, his sixth time this season. Cease then threw wildly on a pickoff attempt at second, allowing both runners to advance.

Roman Anthony followed with a dribbling single that sent Cease tumbling on the mound, bringing home Duran for Boston’s second run. 

“Obviously, we got a little break there when he stumbled off the mound on the ball Roman hit and couldn’t collect it,” Tracy said.

Wilyer Abreu added an RBI double, his sixth of the year, to score Contreras before Cease escaped the inning by getting Trevor Story to fly out, leaving two runners stranded.

Durbin extended the lead to 4-0 with a two-out RBI single in the seventh, blooping a 64.9 mph hit into left field.

Carlos Narváez provided insurance in the eighth, launching a 388-foot solo homer off Chase Lee to cap a 5-0 win, Boston’s third straight.

In the ninth, Greg Weissert closed it out, working around a two-out pinch-hit double by Daulton Varsho to preserve the shutout.

The Red Sox finished with nine hits, including two each from Mayer and Abreu, drew four walks, and struck out eight times. They went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position, though they did leave eight men on base.

Suárez is the first Red Sox pitcher since Eduardo Rodríguez (2016) to go eight scoreless with one hit or fewer, and the first with double-digit strikeouts since Jon Lester (2014).

The Red Sox and Blue Jays continue their series Tuesday at 7:07 p.m., with rookie left-hander Payton Tolle (0-0, 1.50 ERA) set to face Blue Jays rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage, who will be making his 2026 debut.

Red Sox Staff Shakeup Takes Shape

One day after Tracy made his debut as interim manager, the Boston Red Sox began finalizing a reworked major league coaching staff following a sweeping organizational shakeup.

José Flores, who served as Tracy’s bench coach at Triple-A Worcester from 2022–24, has been named interim bench coach. Minor league coordinator Pablo Cabrera will step in as first base coach.

Cabrera joins interim third base coach Chad Epperson, who departs his managerial role at Double-A Portland, as well as hitting coach Collin Hetzler, another promotion from Worcester. Boston’s revamped hitting group will feature Hetzler alongside John Soteropulos, with both sharing hitting coach duties.

Jack Simonetty has been added as an interim hitting assistant. The 26-year-old brings