Entering the game, the Boston Red Sox were experiencing by far the season. They dropped their last three games, including six of their last nine games. The Red Sox still entered the game tied for first place in the AL East with the Baltimore Orioles, but they may have been coming back to Earth a bit. The bullpen was the main concern during those losses.
However, with their performance today, they looked like their old selves. On Saturday, the Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park by a final score of 6-4. Steven Wright got the win for the Red Sox, Marcus Stroman picked up the loss for the Blue Jays, while Craig Kimbrel notched his 13th save of the season.
With the win, Boston advances to 33-23 on the season and move a half game above the Orioles for first place in the AL East. Toronto is now 30-27. The Blue Jays have been hot, winning eight of their last 10 games, and are now 3.5 games behind the Red Sox and are 2.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners for the second Wild Card spot.
Red Sox get going early
After Boston unusually could not get a run home in the first inning despite Dustin Pedroia reaching third base, the offense picked right back up in the second. Travis Shaw, who entered the game in a skid of his own, doubled to lead off the inning against Stroman. He was moved to third base after Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded out to the right side, and Blake Swihart singled him home.
On the other side, the Blue Jays drew walks in both the first and second inning, but could not draw a run against Wright.
In the third, the Red Sox got to Stroman yet again. The red-hot Mookie Betts grounded out to begin the inning, but Pedroia followed with a walk and advanced to third base off a Xander Bogaerts double. Bogaerts, who had his 26-game hit streak come to an end on Friday, recorded his 10th three-hit game of the season. David Ortiz followed with a single, plating both Pedroia and Bogaerts to stretch the lead to 3-0.
Both offenses take off in middle innings
After not recording a hit in the first three innings against the knuckleballer Steven Wright, Michael Saunders opened up the fourth inning with a single. Edwin Encarnacion walked, and each runner advanced a base following a passed ball from Ryan Hanigan. The very next hitter, Justin Smoak, would hit a laser to second base, and would end up with a single and an RBI despite Pedroia knocking the ball down. The run would be unearned for Wright, but the Red Sox lead was trimmed to 3-1.
However, the Red Sox and their torrid offense would answer right back in the bottom of the fourth. Bradley Jr. and Blake Swihart would each walk, and Betts would bring home Bradley with two away to extend Boston's lead to 4-1.
Ryan Hanigan has struggled catching Steven Wright's knuckleball all season long, and it was shown yet again on Saturday, especially in the fifth. After Ryan Goins singled and Jose Bautista walked with two away, both runners would advance on Hanigan's second passed ball on the day. Wright would get Saunders to strike out, but it got by Hanigan, and turned out well for the Blue Jays. Hanigan surrendered his third passed ball of the afternoon, and both Goins and Bautista would come around to score to reduce Boston's lead to 4-3.
Both runs were unearned for Wright, as Hanigan struggled yet again behind the plate. Wright's night was finished after five innings yielding three hits, three runs (all unearned), five walks, and struck out three. His ERA trickled down to 2.29 with his start.
Shaw singled home Bogaerts in the bottom of the fifth to add an insurance run right back and made it 5-3, but the Blue Jays got that run right back in the sixth inning after Devon Travis scored on a Kevin Pillar RBI groundout.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Red Sox possibly changed the entire mood of the game. Swihart continued his solid afternoon drawing a walk with one away, reaching base for the third time. With two away, Mookie Betts laced a double down the left field line, and Swihart attempted to score on the play. The Blue Jays had a solid relay and the throw beat Swihart by a long shot and was originally ruled out, but John Farrell and the Red Sox challenged the play. Swihart's toe appeared to just reach home plate before Russell Martin tagged the left-fielder. The call was overturned, and the Red Sox added a key insurance run to make it 6-4 Boston.
Red Sox close it out
In recent games, Boston's bullpen has been a disaster. Against the Orioles specifically, the bullpen was horrendous, yielding 14 runs in 10.2 innings. However, the bullpen was very strong in Boston, as they allowed just one hit and one run in four innings of work.
Neither teams threatened in the seventh or eighth innings, and Craig Kimbrel shut the door for the Red Sox to even up the series against the Blue Jays.
Up Next
The teams will close out the series on Sunday at 1:35 pm ET, as Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0, 3.00 ERA) will make his second start since being activated from the disabled list against Marco Estrada (3-2, 2.43 ERA) and the Blue Jays.