Entering Saturday afternoon's showdown against the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays had compiled a 73-0 record while leading after eight innings.
This mark now stands at 73-1.
Trailing 4-2 in the ninth inning after the Blue Jays broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the eighth and facing Toronto reliever Roberto Osuna (L, 1-5), Boston third baseman Brock Holt lead off the stanza with a double before slumping center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. smoked a game-tying two-run shot to right two batters later.
After right fielder Mookie Betts grounded out, second baseman Dustin Pedroia worked a crucial two-out walk. Toronto then inserted reliever Aaron Sanchez into the contest to face Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, a horrific move in retrospect.
Bogaerts proceeded to knock a single, followed by the go-ahead RBI single by designated hitter David Ortiz, his 98th RBI of the season. A wild pitch by Sanchez then scored Bogaerts to push the Boston lead to 6-4, and, following an intentional walk issued to first baseman Travis Shaw, left fielder Rusney Castillo ripped an RBI single to center, scoring pinch-runner Deven Marrero.
Toronto was close to completing a comeback of their own in the bottom of the ninth facing Red Sox reliever Robbie Ross Jr. (S, 3), as third baseman Josh Donaldson worked a two-out base on balls to precede right fielder Jose Bautista's two-run shot to cut the deficit to 7-6. An ensuing double by pinch-hitter Matt Hague placed the tying run on second, however, a groundout by pinch-hitter Justin Smoak ended the contest.
Holt went 2-for-5 with two runs and Bogaerts went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs for the Red Sox, who improved to 9-9 on the season against the AL East-leading Blue Jays. Starter Wade Miley pitched a quality start, yielding just two runs on three hits in 6.2 innings of work, striking out seven despite walking five.
On the other side of the ledger, Toronto knuckleballer R.A. Dickey lasted six innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out three.
Designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run while Bautista went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run for the Blue Jays, whose lead in the AL East was decreased to 3.5 games as the second-place New York Yankees shellacked the New York Mets at Citi Field, 5-0.
Both Miley and Dickey were sensational over the first five innings, failing to allow a single run. Bogaerts broke this trend in the sixth inning, however, leading off the stanza with a solo home run to left to give his team a 1-0 advantage.
The Blue Jays responded quickly, as Donaldson walked and Encarnacion hammered a two-run shot to left to give his team a 2-1 lead. This lead was nullified in the top of the seventh, as Dickey allowed a leadoff ground rule double to Holt before reliever Mark Lowe yielded an RBI double to Bradley Jr. with one out to tie the score at two runs apiece.
Toronto appeared to have clinched the victory in the bottom of the eighth inning, as, facing Boston reliever Noe Ramirez, both Donaldson and Bautista walked to set up an RBI single by Encarnacion with none out to give the Blue Jays a 3-2 advantage.
After first baseman Chris Colabello singled to load the bases, Red Sox interim manager Torey Lovullo reached for right-hander Jean Machi out of the bullpen. Following a strikeout, center fielder Kevin Pillar knocked an RBI single to right.
Betts' threatening arm held Encarnacion at third, however, and left-hander Tommy Layne (W, 2-1) was able to force shortstop Ryan Goins to ground into a rally-ending double play to end the inning, setting up Boston's deciding comeback in the ninth.