FINAL: Red Sox 7 Blue Jays 3 - Boston bats unload in series sweep

The Red Sox defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Wednesday night to complete the series sweep. Boston has now won five straight and seven of their last eight games. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Jarren Duran and Emmanuel Valdez both homered.  Duran hit one 433 feet to centerfield. 

• Duran extended his hit streak to 10 games with two hits and two RBI. 
• Valdez scored all three times he reached base.
• The Blue Jays made 4 errors tonight and are 9-20 when they make an error this season. 
• Brayan Bello went 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 6 K and 2 BB. It was his first win since May 28th at Baltimore. However, he still was not great as he continues to struggle with producing a 1 2 3 inning. There were multiple times today in different innings where he constantly found himself in trouble with runners on base and in scoring position. 
• Alex Cora told reporters Wilyer Abreu is expected to come off the IL on Friday or Saturday.

The Red Sox will be back in action on Friday night when they begin a three-game weekend series in Cincinnati with the Reds at 7:10 p.m. 

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WHO: Red Sox (39-35) at Toronto Blue Jays (35-38)
WHEN: 7:07 p.m.
WHERE: Rogers Centre, Toronto. 
SERIES TO DATE: 2-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Brayan Bello (6-4) 5.00 ERA vs. RHP Kevin Gausman (5-5) 4.08 ERA 
TV/RADIO: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
LIVE BOX
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Durran LF
Hamilton SS
O'Neill RF
Devers 3B
Yoshida DH
Valdez 2B
McGuire C
Smith 1B
Gonzalez CF

SP Brayan Bello 

OPPONENT
Horwitz 2B
Turner DH
Guerrero Jr 1B
Varsho LF
Jansen C
Springer RF
Barger 3B
Kiner-Falefa SS
Kiermaier CF

SP Kevin Gausman 
WHAT'S UP

•  The Red Sox have won 4 straight games...They're 6-1 in their last 7 and 7-2 in their last 9.
• With a win tonight, the Sox would tie their season-high 5-game win streak (3/31-4/5) as well as match their season high of 5 games above .500 (5/1; 18-13).
•  At 39-35, Boston owns MLB's 11th-best record.
• The Red Sox won last night's contest vs. the Blue Jays, 4-3 to secure the series.
• Tyler O'Neill went 2-for-4 (2 R, 2B, HR, RBI), including a game-tying solo HR in the 8th inning...Ceddanne Rafaela (3-for-4, 2B, RBI) hit a go-ahead RBI single in the 8th.
• It was just Boston's 2nd win this year when trailing after 7 innings (2-30).
• The Sox won their 3rd consecutive series last night, improving to 11-9-4 in series play (5-5-2 on the road)...They're undefeated in their last 6 series (3-0-3).
• It is their first streak of at least 3 series wins since 6/30-7/16/23 (4-0-0), and first undefeated streak of at least 6 series since 5/21-6/26/22 (7-0-1).
• A win tonight would secure Boston's 4th sweep of the season, all on the road.
•  The Red Sox lead the American League with 71 stolen bases (5th in MLB)...They have not finished a season leading the AL in SB since 1935 (91). 
• Their 22 stolen bases since 6/7 are their most in an 11-game span during the Live Ball Era (1920-present).
• Boston set a franchise record Sunday vs. NYY with 9 SB...It was their first game since 1940 with more than 6.They became just the 9th team since 1920 to record at least 9 steals (last: CIN on 6/16/23 at MIL; also 9).
• Boston is 9-9 vs. AL East teams (1-5 vs. BAL, 4-3 vs. TB, 2-1 vs. NYY, 2-0 vs. TOR)...The club is 6-2 in road games within the division while going 3-7 at home.
• The Sox are in a span during which they’ll play AL East teams in 9 of their 12 games from 6/14-6/26 (4-1 so far).
• Following this stretch, only 14 of their next 62 games will be against division foes, from 6/28-9/8...After which, 16 of their final 19 games will be against AL East opponents.