Red Sox beat Jays 7-4
TORONTO (CP) — Xander Bogaerts drove in Hanley Ramirez for the tiebreaking run in the 11th inning as the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-4 on Friday.
Bogaerts hit a single to right field off Aaron Loup (2-2) to plate Ramirez from third base, and Deven Marrero extended the lead with two-run single off Glenn Sparkman.
The Rule 5 right-hander was making his major league debut after breaking his thumb during spring training.
Loup was charged with three runs on three hits with three walks — two intentional — and a wild pitch.
Blaine Boyer (1-1) pitched the 10th for the win and Craig Kimbrel got his 23rd save in the nearly five-hour opener of the three-game series between division rivals.
Dustin Pedroia drove in two runs for the Red Sox (45-35), Marrero had an earlier RBI and Andrew Benintendi also drove in a run.
Justin Smoak continued his torrid offensive pace with a three-run homer for the Blue Jays (37-42) and Troy Tulowitzki hit a game-tying solo shot in the sixth.
Both teams combined for 20 walks, four of them intentional.
Marco Estrada allowed two runs on two hits but walked a career-high seven batters through just 4 1/3 innings.
Estrada, who has failed to pitch past the fifth inning in four of his last six starts, came into the game with a 10.03 ERA in the month of June.
Doug Fister started for Boston, pitching five innings and allowing three runs on three hits while walking three and striking out five.
Smoak gave the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead in the first, cashing in Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson with his 22nd homer of the season.
Smoak, who’s vying for his first allstar appearance, leads Toronto in homers and RBIs (52).
Estrada walked three straight batters to load the bases with nobody out in the third but the right-hander got two pop flies and a strikeout to escape unscathed.
The Jays starter wasn’t so lucky in the fifth, walking his seventh batter to lead off the inning before allowing Boston’s first hit, a single to Mookie Betts. Pedroia followed with a one-out, two-run double to cut the Red Sox deficit to 3-2 and end Estrada’s night. Danny Barnes got the final two outs of the inning.
The Red Sox tied the game when Marrero, the nine-hole hitter, drove in Jackie Bradley Jr., from second base on a single off Barnes in the sixth. Benintendi followed with a double of his own off Jeff Beliveau to bring in Christian Vasquez for the go-ahead run.
Tulowitzki’s fifth homer of the season, off Heath Hembree in the sixth, tied the game 4-4.