The Boston Red Sox scored five runs in the final two innings, capped by a Xander Bogaerts walk off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning in a 6-2 win over the Blue Jays at Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Sox trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Bogaerts led off with a double, Jackie Bradley JR followed with a double to score Bogaerts and even the score. Bogaerts was stranded at second as the game went to extra innings.
Craig Kimbrel (2-1) pitched a scoreless 10th inning, he worked around a walk and struck out two. With one out in the bottom of the 10th, Mookie Betts reached on an error, Brock Holt singled. With runners on first and third, the Blue Jays intentionally walked J.D. Martinez. That set up the dramatics from Bogaerts who sent a 2-0 pitch into the center field bleachers. It is the first walk off grand slam for the Red Sox since Rico Brogna did it on August 14th, 2000.
Eduardo Rodriguez had to leave the game after spraining his ankle on a collision at first base in the sixth inning. Rodriguez pitched 5.1 shutout innings, allowing four hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Heath Hembree, Matt Barnes, Brandon Workman, and Kimbrel all pitched well out of the bullpen. Joe Kelly struggled in the seventh, allowing three base runners and two runs, while only getting two outs.
The Red Sox got at least one hit from eight of the nine players in the lineup. Betts led the attack, reaching base five times with three hits. Bogaerts had two hits. The Red Sox will bring a 67-30 record into the final game before the all star break. Brian Johnson and Marcus Stroman is the scheduled pitching matchup on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 PM.
