Anthony Seigler, Romy Gonzalez lift Red Sox past Blue Jays in series opener

After seeing their franchise-record-tying 15-game winning streak come to an end Wednesday night, the Red Sox returned from Thursday’s off day with a 6-4 victory over the Blue Jays in Friday night’s series opener at Fenway Park.

Anthony Seigler turned in the best performance of his young major league career, going 4-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and two RBI while finishing a triple shy of the cycle. After Toronto erased a four-run deficit late, Romy González delivered the decisive blow with a pinch-hit RBI double in the eighth inning.

The victory improved Boston to 53-49 and marked its 21st win in the last 24 games dating back to June 25. The Red Sox also improved to an MLB-best 16-2 in July and moved into the second American League Wild Card spot following Cleveland’s loss to Tampa Bay.

Willson Contreras endured an eventful first two innings. He dove headfirst into first base to beat out a softly hit ground ball, slid awkwardly into second on a stolen-base attempt and later lost his footing while ranging to his right on a ground ball instead of covering first base. Though he appeared to be in discomfort after the stolen base, Contreras remained in the game after being checked by the training staff.

“He’s OK,” interim manager Chad Tracy said postgame. “They’ll check on him but he’s OK.”

Patrick Sandoval also had to battle through early trouble.

The left-hander committed a throwing error and walked two to load the bases with two outs in the first inning before striking out Davis Schneider to escape the jam.

Boston immediately capitalized in the first inning. 

Seigler opened the bottom of the first by crushing the first leadoff home run of his career into the right-field seats for a 1-0 lead.

After leading off the third with a single, Seigler scored moments later when Ceddanne Rafaela lined a two-run homer off the top of the Green Monster. The drive was briefly reviewed before being upheld, extending Boston’s lead to 3-0.

Rafaela has hit safely in 16 of his 18 games in July, including multiple hits in seven of those contests, batting .291 with an .811 OPS in that span.

Sandoval settled in after the opening inning and finished with 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits while walking two and striking out three. 

It was his first scoreless outing with at least four innings pitching since May 2024.

After throwing 44 pitches over the first two innings, he needed just 19 combined pitches in the third and fourth before Tracy turned to Tyron Guerrero with two runners in scoring position in the fifth. Guerrero retired Alejandro Kirk on a fly ball to preserve Sandoval’s scoreless outing.

The Red Sox appeared to take control in the sixth.

After loading the bases with one out, Andruw Monasterio lifted a sacrifice fly to center to make it 4-0. Boston had an opportunity to add more, but Nathan Lukes threw out Caleb Durbin at the plate on Connor Wong’s single to end the inning.

Greg Weissert retired the first batter he faced in the seventh before hitting a batter and issuing a walk. Kazuma Okamoto then launched the first pitch he saw into the first row of the center-field bleachers for a three-run homer, cutting Boston’s lead to one.

The Red Sox again failed to capitalize in the seventh after loading the bases with two outs. Masataka Yoshida beat out an infield single after the ball deflected off Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s glove, but Durbin grounded back to the pitcher to end the threat.

Toronto tied the game in the eighth when Lukes doubled, advanced on a single and scored on Andrés Giménez’s sacrifice fly against Garrett Whitlock, ending Whitlock’s streak of 13 consecutive scoreless appearances.

Jarren Duran singled to open the bottom of the eighth before González, pinch-hitting for Wong, ripped a double down the left-field line to score Duran all the way from first with the go-ahead run.

“Big hit,” Tracy said. “Obviously we took a shot there, it’s right on right, but the real thought was could he lose one with a man on first, there’s power there and extra-base hit ability and he got one down that corner with Duran running was huge, big swing.”

Seigler followed with his second double of the night, driving home González to provide an insurance run.

“It’s awesome,” said Gonzalez. “I’m obviously no stranger to it. I’ve been doing it for some time now. Anytime I have my handprint on a win, it’s big time and it feels good.”

González recorded his third career go-ahead RBI in the 8th inning or later in the victory. 

Aroldis Chapman worked a scoreless ninth for his 24th save of the season and the 391st of his career, passing Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley for sole possession of ninth place on Major League Baseball’s all-time saves list.

“I’m happy for the win,” said Chapman, “and also for the accomplishment that I was able to get.”

The Red Sox have now won seven of their first eight games on their 10-game homestand and can clinch a sixth consecutive series victory Saturday when Sonny Gray (12-1, 2.48 ERA) opposes Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease (6-5, 2.67 ERA).