Emmanuel Valdez hit a tie-breaking two-run single in a three run fifth inning on Wednesday night, leading the Boston Red Sox to their fifth straight win with an 8-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. The win also gives Boston the series win, as they’ve won the first three over Toronto in the four game set and will go for the sweep on Thursday night.
Toronto (18-13) got off to a good start as they got a pair of solo homeruns off Boston starter Nick Pivetta by Daulton Varsho and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the second and third innings for a 2-0 lead. The Guerrero Jr. shot was estimated at 450 feet over the monster in left field. The Sox tied it 2-2 when Jarren Duran knocked in Rafael Devers in the fourth inning with a double, and Tristan Casas then drove in Duran with a single. The Blue Jays went back in front in the top of the fifth when Pivetta was called for a balk with Kevin Kiermaier on third base and Bo Bichette at the plate. In the last half of the inning, Masataka Yoshida reached on a one out error and then Justin Turner doubled. Devers popped out, but then Duran was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Casas singled to left to tie it, and then Valdez singled off the first base bag and into shallow right field to score two that turned out to be the game winner. Yoshida added two RBI on a single in the sixth and a double in the seventh. The final scoring of the night was an eighth inning RBI single by Kike Hernandez.
Pivetta (2-2) earned the win on the mound allowing three runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. Casas had three hits, while Yoshida, Turner, Valdez, and Hernandez had two each. Yoshida, Casas, and Valdez had two RBI a piece as Boston moves their record to 18-14. Varsho and Guerrero Jr. had two hits for Toronto, while Alex Manoah (1-2) took the loss on the hill as he gave up five runs (two earned) on eight hits with one walk and three strikeouts in 5.0 innings. The finale of the four game series is Thursday night at 6:10. The Red Sox send right hander Brayan Bello (0-1, 6.57 ERA) to the mound to face righty Kevin Gausman (2-2, 2.33) for the Blue Jays.
Story by Chris Lessner/Video highlights courtesy of Bongo Media
