Jackie Bradley Jr. also hit a three-run homer for the Red Sox and Hanley Ramirez added a solo shot.
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Los Angeles right-hander Kenta Maeda (14-9) allowed three runs, two earned, and eight hits in six innings.
Boston tied it at 6 and chased Sanchez on a two-run single by Bogaerts, but Toronto answered with Encarnacion’s second homer in the bottom half.
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.
He capped it with a home run that propelled his team to an important win that left the Blue Jays two games back with 20 games to play for each team.
Boston has compiled a 31-26 record against AL East opponents, and has posted at least two wins in each of their last four road series against division rivals.
After Boston ties it at 6-6, Edwin Encarnacion would find the seats in left field in the bottom of the fourth, picking up his second homer of the game. And the Dodgers fell to Miami, allowing San Francisco to cut their cushion in the West to three games, after defeating Arizona.
Sanchez, a 2010 first-round draft pick who is in his third year in the majors, is 3-1 in 12 games (four starts) against the Sox, with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.140 WHIP.
What hasn’t been documented as much is the love that Ortiz gets from Toronto. He finished his 123-game regular-season career at the Rogers Centre with 41 homers, most ever by a visiting player. Each was tagged for six runs and left the game to their respective bullpens. Pedroia capped the rally with a two-run single off Ryan Tepera. Boston has won a pair of series against Toronto at the Rogers Centre this season, but the Blue Jays have held the upper hand in contests at Fenway Park, winning four of five since dropping a pair in Boston in mid-April. Souza broke the streak with a two-out walk in the fifth but Liriano fanned Richie Shaffer to end the inning. Unfortunately Hembree wasn’t able to keep the Jays off the board when he gave up a no doubt 2 run homer to Encarnacion himself.
Ortiz had also scored the first run of the game when he chugged around the bases and scored from first on a double from Mookie Betts.
“We never rolled over”, Red Sox manager John Farrell said. As soon as Ortiz destroyed a pitch over the right-field fence, deep into the stands, I stood straight up and said, “It’s a sign”.
Mike Schmidt is next on the career list, with 548.
Imagine the guts on Benoit, who hadn’t seen Ortiz in three years but started him with a changeup in the same exact spot with two runners on base.
Boston added another run to their lead in the seventh, as Leon doubled home Holt for the Sox’s 11th run of the game. Scoring eight runs should lead to a win, and unfortunately it was not enough today.
Robbie Ross Jr. (3-2) got two outs for the win. Matt Barnes and Joe Kelly came out of the Red Sox bullpen. Kimbrel came out for the 9th with a 3 run cushion. Martin later struck out. The play was initially called a hit, then changed to a foul ball before the umpiring crew reviewed the call.
Manager John Gibbons said Sanchez likely will be skipped the next time through the rotation to let his finger heal and limit his workload in his first full season as a starter. Rick Porcello, Drew Pomeranz and David Price are Boston’s big-game pitchers, but even Price and Pomeranz have struggled at times this season.
With the victory, the Red Sox took two of three from the Blue Jays.
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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 fans sitting near the Kerrs mentioned that the Red Sox might ask for the ball back, and within a few minutes a member of the stadium security staff arrived in their section.
