Blue Jays win 6-5 in 10th to sweep Red Sox
BOSTON (AP) — Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano pitched his way out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth inning at Fenway Park.
Then he had to shut the Red Sox down one more time.
“I kind of tried to erase what happened the last inning, because it was a lot of adrenaline,” he said after leading Toronto to a 6-5 win over Boston in 10 innings on Thursday night. “You had to stay focused. We’ve got three more hitters coming up and like, let’s win a game.”
One night after earning a save in an extra-inning victory over Boston, Romano (5-3) picked up the win to seal Toronto’s three-game sweep. The Blue Jays, who took three out of four against the AL East-leading Yankees to start the week, have won eight straight games at Fenway Park this year.
“We can hang with anyone, you know what I mean?” Romano said. “We came into their spot and yeah, won a bunch of games. So I think it was a huge road trip. Good for the morale and just letting us know we’re for real.”
The Red Sox had a runner on third with nobody out in the eighth and then loaded the bases against Romano with no outs in the ninth, and both times failed to score.
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In the 10th, automatic runner Cavan Biggio took third on a groundout and then rushed home on George Springer’s grounder to short, sliding head-first under the tag with the throw from Xander Bogaerts coming in too high.
Danny Jansen had three hits, including a home run, for the Blue Jays, who have won seven of their last eight games. They are 8-1 in Boston this year, winning the last two in extra innings.
After J.D. Martinez singled to lead off the ninth and Bogaerts doubled, Christian Arroyo was intentionally walked to load the bases. Romano struck out Franchy Cordero and then, with five infielders playing in, Kiké Hernandez hit a hard chopper to third baseman Matt Chapman, who stepped on third and threw to first for the inning-ending double play.
“He’s got an amazing internal clock and obviously a cannon for an arm,” Toronto interim manager John Schneider said. “So you want the ball hit to him in basically any scenario. He showed it this entire series.”
John Schrieber (3-3) did not allow a hit in the 10th but took the loss on the unearned run that scored on a fielder’s choice. Reese McQuire had three hits for Boston, which has lost four in a row and six of seven games.
McGuire led off the eighth with a line drive into the right field corner that skipped under Teoscar Hernandez’s glove and went to the wall, turning a double into a triple.
Adam Cimber struck out Bobby Dalbec, hit Jarren Duran and then fanned Tommy Pham before Tim Mayza got Rafael Devers on a hard grounder that went off first baseman Vladimir Guerrero’s glove but slowed down enough for second baseman Santiago Espinal to field and throw back to first for the third out.
GLOVE WORK
Dalbec was busy at first base.
In the fourth, he couldn’t get under a foul popup near the stands, allowing Guererro to remain at the plate with two outs. He followed with a two-run single to give the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead.
But in the sixth, he came off the bag to grab Devers’ bad throw on Santiago Espinal’s hard chopper to third. Dalbec reached out as he landed to tag Espinal in the back before he reached the base.
Jansen followed with a solo home run. The 108 mph shot was caught bare-handed by a fan in the front row of the seats atop the Green Monster.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: 2B Trevor Story went 3-for-4 with a single, double, and home run in a rehab start for Double-A Portland. … LHP James Paxton will be shut down after tearing a side muscle while trying to come back from Tommy John surgery. He left his first rehab start last week after just two batters.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: Return home to face the Angels. Toronto RHP Mitch White (0-1) will face LHP Reid Detmers (4-4).
Red Sox: Open a three-game series against the Rays. RHP Michael Wacha (8-1) will start for Boston; Tampa Bay’s starter is TBD.
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