Sanchez has allowed three home runs in his past two starts after giving up one homer in his previous 50 innings. Cobb, who returned to the Rays rotation on September 2 after missing almost two full seasons of play due to Tommy John surgery, promptly beat the Blue Jays in Tampa in his first game back.
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The home run was the 534th for Ortiz, a 10-time All-Star and Red Sox icon known as “Big Papi” who has said he will retire after this season, his 20th in the big leagues. Sale struck out 12 in eight innings while becoming the first White Sox pitcher with four consecutive 200-strikeout seasons.
Red Sox: OF Andrew Benintendi (left knee) ran the bases before the game and will try sliding as early as Saturday.
The Blue Jays are tied with Baltimore for the wild-card lead.
Toronto stopped a four-game losing streak and avoided matching its longest skid this season. More importantly, it improved their lead atop the American League East to two games. With runners on first and third, Bradley Jr. launched his 24th homer of the season to give the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.
Yesterday they got their biggest Ortiz moment of the year. The Blue Jays are 16-23 in one-run games. They fare better against every other team in the division, with 67 cumulative runs against the Yankees, 76 against Boston, and 90 versus the hard-hitting Baltimore Orioles.
Encarnacion hit a solo home run off Buchholz in the first, singled and scored in the third, and then hit a two-run shot off Heath Hembree in the fourth.
ROCKIES 3, PADRES 2 (10) Mark Reynolds hit a home run to lead off the 10th inning and the visiting Rockies salvaged a split of a four-game series. The last time the Jays faced him, on August 8, they’d scored four runs by the bottom of the fourth, and had forced Odorizzi out after 5.1 innings (the Rays at that point also had four runs, against R.A. Dickey). He walked none while throwing 71 of 108 pitches for strikes.
After Ramirez cut it to 8-7 with a drive to deep center in the fifth, Boston’s Brock Holt tried to steal home but was thrown out by reliever Aaron Loup. Russell Martin walked to force in a run and Tulowitzki hit a first-pitch homer. Edwin Encarnacion blasted two home runs with three RBIs, while reaching base four times.
But that’s exactly where the Blue Jays manager was Saturday morning, kicking back in his office while his charges took it upon themselves to organize a no-coaches-allowed gathering ahead of the second game of a pivotal series against the Boston Red Sox. Ortiz famously hit his epic grand slam in Game 2 of the ALCS off of Benoit (which launched Tigers’ outfielder Torii Hunter into the bullpen).
With his 535th career home run, Ortiz moved past Jimmie Foxx into sole possession of 18th place on baseball’s career list. After starting 1 for 34 following his July 25 promotion, Bregman has eight home runs – all since August 16.
Boston added another run to their lead in the seventh, as Leon doubled home Holt for the Sox’s 11th run of the game. The Sox recaptured a two-game lead in the AL East and head back to Fenway Park today with 20 games left on the schedule. Noe Ramirez (0.1 innings), Robbie Ross Jr. Matt Barnes and Joe Kelly came out of the Red Sox bullpen. Estrada’s earned-run average for 2016 as a whole stands at a very different 3.68.
First base umpire Jim Joyce was loudly booed in the bottom of the ninth after he reversed a call on the field, deciding that a double by Martin was actually foul before seeing a video replay.
Donaldson sat with what Toronto manager John Gibbons described as general body soreness.
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Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his 25th save of the season, overcoming a leadoff walk to Encarnacion. Toronto LHP Francisco Liriano (7-12, 5.27 ERA) will start Monday against Tampa Bay Rays RHP Jake Odorizzi (9-6, 3.86 ERA) at Rogers Centre with RHP R.A. Dickey being bypassed in the rotation. The latest episode is below and check us out on ITUNES as well!
