Rick Porcello defeated the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, boosting his 2016 record to an incredible 20-3.
Advertisement
Rick Porcello pitched seven innings to become the first 20-game victor in the majors, Hanley Ramirez hit a three-run homer and the Boston Red Sox increased their AL East lead to two games by routing Toronto 13-3 on Friday night.
Toronto catcher Russell Martin was given the night off to rest his sore left knee.
Toronto prevailed 3-2 to pull back within one game of first-place Boston in the AL East standings.
“I’m not the one that called the meeting, but I’m glad we had it. And it was just nice to get everyone together to talk about it and get back on the same page”. You might remember Dioner Navarro’s adventure catching a tall pop up in front of the Blue Jays dugout in Friday’s series opener, an effort that landed him flat on his back as he made the play on a ball that almost ended up behind him.
However, whether the coat was tongue-in-cheek to suggest that the powerhouse hitter should get chilly in his at-bats or not, Ortiz was not the one who needed to keep out the cold last night.
Jose Bautista made it 3-0 with an RBI bloop single just beyond the reach of shortstop Xander Bogaerts in the third. Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackier Bradley Jr., front left, and right fielder Mookie Betts, front center, celebrate with teammates after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in baseball game action in Toronto, Fri. Devon Travis followed with a two-run single to cut the lead to 4-2. From J.A. Happ, who earned his 18th win, to Joaquin Benoit to Jason Grilli to Roberto Osuna, the baton was passed without incident and the Jays made three runs stand tall, less than 24 hours after they scored that same number, yet were taken to the woodshed by the Red Sox. “There are guys in that room that we had a meeting with before the game that I grew up watching and I grew up idolizing and to have them in a room spreading advice and pumping the guys up, that’s just incredible for me”. The last time Estrada failed to finish three innings was June 30, 2015, also a home loss to Boston. In this case it was 18-game-winning lefty J.A. Happ, who held them to two runs on four hits over six innings.
The Blue Jays scored an unearned run in the eighth against Brad Ziegler and the Red Sox scored twice in the ninth against Matt Dermody.
NATIONALS 5, PHILLIES 4: At Washington, Trea Turner hit his second home run of the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, a solo shot that gave Washington the victory.
Adrian Beltre’s 27th homer of the season broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning of the Rangers’ 2-1 win against the Angels.
Tim Micallef broached the subject to Sid Seixeiro, who said that “it should suck just a little bit”. “Definitely in a series like this you like to get off to a good start early in the ballgame”. Upton got a Bronx cheer after he cleanly fielded a ball after two earlier miscues and as Gibbons took the field to yank pitcher after pitcher in the contest’s latter stages, only the sound of the Tragically Hip blaring from the loudspeakers could drown out the angry murmurs coming from the stands.
Upton also had a stolen base, his 25th of the year. He gave up seven earned runs over 1 2/3 innings Monday, only the second time in his career that the left-hander failed to pitch at least two innings. Donaldson had reached that base after Edwin Encarnacion’s hit bounced off Red Sox third baseman Aaron Hill and into the outfield in the previous at bat. He didn’t make the play, but managed to slow his fall into the dugout by hanging on to the roof of the enclosure with one hand.
This is only the second time since joining the Blue Jays that he didn’t make it past the fourth. Happ took a 3-1 lead into the 7th, the first four balls which were hit towards Bautista in right field (right after a prescient suggestion that Pompey go in for him as a defensive replacement).
Advertisement
“It is uncharacteristic of us, so hey, put it behind you”, said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. Bautista drew cheers from the 47,829 in attendance at Rogers Centre as he bounced off the wall to catch the ball and fire it home.
