Jarren Duran hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth as the host Boston Red Sox struck for five runs over the final two innings to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.
After Ceddanne Rafaela reached on an error and advanced to second on a balk, Duran sent a ground ball through the right side to plate Rafaela and give Boston its eighth win in nine games.
The Red Sox scored four runs in the eighth, including two on a David Hamilton homer that followed Duran’s one-out double. Romy Gonzalez later hit a game-tying two-run single against reliever Zach Pop (0-2).
Duran and Rafael Devers each had three hits, while Masataka Yoshida finished with two for Boston. Kenley Jansen (3-1) earned the win in relief, working a scoreless ninth.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s three-run home run highlighted a five-run seventh that gave Toronto a 6-2 lead, but the Blue Jays ultimately lost their seventh game in a row.
Guerrero went 3-for-4 while Isiah Kiner-Falefa also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 with two runs.
The Red Sox got a strong start from right-hander Tanner Houck, who allowed three runs (two earned) and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. Houck walked one and struck out seven.
Houck set down the first nine batters he faced, but the Blue Jays got on the board in the fourth, as Justin Turner plated Kiner-Falefa with a single against his former team. Kiner-Falefa had opened the frame with a base hit.
Devers quickly erased the Toronto lead with a two-run shot in the home half of the fourth to put the Red Sox up 2-1.
Duran made a highlight-reel catch in the fifth, denying Addison Barger of extra bases with a leaping grab at the center field wall.
It looked like the Blue Jays were then going to break through in the sixth, but Houck worked out of a bases-loaded jam by getting George Springer to fly out.
Kevin Kiermaier and Spencer Horwitz each had a run-scoring single in the seventh ahead of Guerrero’s three-run blast.
–Field Level Media
