Tepera the surprise winning pitcher
BOSTON Blue Jays reliever Ryan Tepera couldn’t believe his eyes when he looked up and saw that he was the winning pitcher — his fifth career victory.
Starter Marcus Stroman was the best pitcher of the game, taking a three-hit shutout into the seventh inning and leaving without allowing an earned run. Dominic Leone relieved him, and was the pitcher of record when Toronto took the lead for good.
But Tepera was awarded the victory by official scorer Bob Ellis, who ruled that Leone didn’t deserve it after allowing a game-tying double on the only pitch he threw.
“I thought it was a mistake, but I’ll take it,” Tepera said, breaking into a laugh after the Blue Jays beat Boston 4-3 on Monday night. “I mean, wins don’t really matter as relievers, as long as we win as a team.”
Steve Pearce hit a solo homer, then added the goahead single in the eighth inning to lead Toronto a victory in the series opener. Stroman shut the Red Sox down for most of the game, but took a no-decision after they scored three unearned runs to tie it in the seventh.
After Andrew Benintendi doubled, Stroman failed to get his foot on the bag when covering first on Jackie Bradley Jr.’s grounder. Christian Vazquez walked to load the bases. Brock Holt’s sacrifice fly scored one run, and Mookie Betts singled in another to chase Stroman.
Leone came in, and Dustin Pedroia banged his first and only pitch off the Green Monster. One run scored on the double, and Betts was thrown out at the plate after running through a stop sign from the third base coach.
Tepera (5-1) pitched a perfect eighth. Baseball Rule 9.17 (c) states: “The official scorer shall not credit as the winning pitcher a relief pitcher who is ineffective in a brief appearance, when at least one succeeding relief pitcher pitches effectively in helping his team maintain its lead.”
Toronto went back in front in the eighth when Pearce singled to score pinch-runner Ezequiel Carrera from third.
Roberto Osuna pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.
Heath Hembree (1-3) took the loss.
CUBS 4, BRAVES 3
ATLANTA — Jon Lester bounced back from the shortest start of his career by allowing only one run in seven innings and Chicago stopped Atlanta’s ninth-inning comeback to give the Cubs a win over the Braves.
TIGERS 10, ROYALS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nicholas Castellanos and Mikie Mahtook went deep, Jordan Zimmermann smothered the Royals with strikes and the Detroit Tigers proceeded to trounce Kansas City to open a four-game series.
TWINS 4, YANKEES 2
MINNEAPOLIS — Eddie Rosario had two RBI doubles and Eduardo Escobar added the go-ahead, pinch-hit single in the eighth inning to help the Minnesota Twins to a victory over the New York Yankees.
MARLINS 6, PHILLIES 5
MIAMI — Giancarlo Stanton homered twice and Dee Gordon hit an RBI single with two outs in the 10th inning that sent the Miami Marlins over the Philadelphia Phillies.
CARDINALS 6, METS 3
NEW YORK — Paul DeJong homered against the New York Mets for the fourth straight game and Adam Wainwright hit an RBI double while winning his fourth consecutive start, sending the St. Louis Cardinals to a victory.
PIRATES 4, BREWERS 2
PITTSBURGH — Gregory Polanco doubled twice, drove in two runs and threw out a potential go-ahead run at the plate to lead the surging Pittsburgh Pirates to a win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
ORIOLES 3, RANGERS 1
BALTIMORE — Seth Smith hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and the Baltimore Orioles used a strong performance by its struggling pitching staff to beat the Texas Rangers.
NATIONALS 6, REDS 1
CINCINNATI — Ryan Zimmerman set the Nationals’ career home run record with a solo shot, and Bryce Harper connected again on Monday as Washington powered its way to a a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.