The Toronto left-hander had thrown just 72 pitches when he was pulled after allowing two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out six through 6 1/3.
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Sep 2, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons (5) looks on in the dugout during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
Those two hits (a Devon Travis eighth inning infield single to go with Goins’ sixth inning knock) by the way, were quickly erased by double play ground balls – Travis’ in the sixth and Josh Donaldson’s in the eighth.
“We never rolled over”, Red Sox manager John Farrell said.
In two starts against the Red Sox this season, Sanchez is 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA. INF Ryan Goins started at second base Sunday.
Thats the optimistic place for the Blue Jays. The Royals are four games behind Baltimore and Detroit for the top spot in the AL wild-card standings. With runners on first and third, Bradley Jr. launched his 24th homer of the season to give the Red Sox a 4-1 lead. Since Sept. 1, the Jays’ rotation had recorded a 6.91 ERA (14th in AL),.297 opponent average (10th), 1.68 WHIP (13th) and averaged just 4 2/3 innings per start.
Yesterday they got their biggest Ortiz moment of the year. Travis had three hits for the Blue Jays and is 6 for 9 in the first two games of the series.
Boston shook off the disastrous third and produced more two-out magic to tie the game and bounce Sanchez from the pivotal contest. Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia also added two hits apiece.
The Blue Jays are 70-35 when they hit at least one home run. Speaking to the Toronto Star’s Richard Griffin and the rest of the media, he said: “I’m not here to make excuses – at the end of the day, you’ve got a job to do”.
Moore (10-11) gave up two runs and eight hits.
The key, on this afternoon, was a three-run shot from Ortiz off Joaquin Benoit that gave Boston a 10-8 lead in the sixth inning.
The Sox got on the board with a single run in the top of the 1st when Mookie Betts hit an RBI double to score David Ortiz. But a mistimed mistake on the bases took the bat right out of JBJ’s hands, as Holt shockingly attempted to steal home for the final out of the inning.
Jose Bautista added an RBI single for the Blue Jays (78-63), who snapped a four game losing skid. On an 0-2 pitch, Ortiz hit a drive deep to center field. With his 535th career homer, Ortiz moved past Jimmie Foxx into possession of 18th place on baseball’s career list. Ortiz is just one home run behind Mickey Mantle for 17th place in Major League Baseball history.
When Erin Kerr went online to buy Boston Red Sox tickets during a family trip to MA last month, her 8-year-old daughter Ella lobbied hard for seats in the outfield.
Nelson Cruz had three hits and three RBIs and Kyle Seager hit his 28th home run to help the Mariners to their seventh win in eight games against the A’s this season.
Noe Ramirez came out to pitch the 5th inning for the Sox.
Kimbrel came in for the ninth, and walked Encarnacion to start his outing.
Red Sox: Holt was tagged on his sore right shoulder as he dove back to first base on a pickoff attempt in the fifth.
Gibbons was ejected in the ninth after the umpires ruled Russell Martin’s double into the right field corner, initially ruled fair, had landed foul.
Osuna, who celebrated his save a batter earlier before realizing that Martin had dropped a third strike, had to hold his breath as he watched Kevin Pillar backtrack to catch Souza Jr.’s ball.
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Boston now owns a two-game lead over the Blue Jays and Orioles in the AL East, so it looks like Ortiz will get at least one more series at Fenway after the regular season ends. David Price (15-8, 3.87 ERA), who has won his last six starts, will face former Red Sox pitcher Wade Miley (1-4, 7.15 ERA) in the first game of another pivotal AL East series, as Boston travels to Camden Yards to face the Orioles.
