Raimel Tapia drove in four runs and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had four hits on Sunday afternoon, as the Toronto Blue Jays finished off a three game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with an 8-4 win at Fenway Park. Boston has now lost five games in a row.
Toronto (53-43) started fast scoring five times in the first inning off Boston starter Brayan Bello. Cavan Biggio had a two-run single, and Tapia the big blow with a three-run triple. Boston got two runs back on a Xander Bogaerts RBI single in the last of the first, and a run scoring single by Yolmer Sanchez in the fourth to slice it to 5-2. The Blue Jays put it away with three in the fifth on a Tapia RBI single, a fielders choice by Danny Jansen that scored Matt Chapman, and an RBI single by Guerrero. Boston (48-48) has now dropped nine of their last 10 overall, and have been outscored 67-13 in the current five game losing streak.
Bello (0-2) allowed five runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 4.0 innings in taking the loss on the mound. Jarren Duran, Alex Verdugo, and Jackie Bradley Jr. had two hits each. Verdugo had an RBI single and Bradley Jr. a solo homerun for the other runs on the day. Tapia ended up with three hits and the four RBI in the win for Toronto, while George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez, and Chapman had two hits each to go along with the four from Guerrero Jr. Ross Stripling got a no-decision and gave up two runs on five hits in 4.0 innings. Tim Mayza (4-0) picked up the win in relief. The Blue Jays with the victory and a loss by Tampa Bay moved into the top wildcard spot in the American League. Boston is now three games out of the third and final wild card, and opens up a huge four game series with another team vying for a playoff spot the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night at Fenway Park. Nick Pivetta (8-7, 4.50 ERA) will toe the rubber in game one, to be opposed by Zach Plesac (2-7, 4.02) for Cleveland. The Red Sox were without JD Martinez (back spasms) all weekend with no clear answer to when he’ll be back, and Rafael Devers was placed on the 10-day IL during Saturdays game with right hamstring inflammation.
