Sox walk it off in 19
Ramirez delivers marathon victory
It wasn’t the offensive eruption the Red Sox were looking for, but they’ll take the win.
The Sox scored two runs in the ninth and then ended a 19-inning marathon on a walkoff single by Hanley Ramirez to beat the lastplace Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2, and snap a three-game losing streak last night at Fenway Park.
The Sox have scored just 16 runs while winning two of their past six games. But they avoided matching a season high for consecutive losses and also pushed the New York Yankees, who lost to Baltimore, 31⁄2 games out of first place in the AL East. The Sox improved to 12-3 in extra-inning games and 5-2 in games that last 12 innings or longer, and they’re hoping this one is the start of a successful stretch run.
After 11 relievers combined for 13 scoreless innings with 15 strikeouts, the Sox finally struck in the bottom of the 19th. Mookie Betts led off with a Wallball double, and Ramirez followed with a bloop single to center field.
The Sox victimized Toronto closer Robert Osuna in the ninth with the help of Betts’ bat and legs.
Andrew Benintendi led off with a walk and Betts followed with a double. Ramirez’ groundout scored Benintendi to make it 2-1 and Betts, who had held up at second base, took third on the throw. That proved to be fortuitous because when Mitch Moreland hit a hard groundball to a diving drawn-in Toronto second baseman Darwin Barney, Betts was able to race home and tie the score 2-2.
Jackie Bradley Jr. preserved the tie in the top of the 11th. Jose Bautista led off with a walk, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on an infield single by Michael Saunders. Justin Smoak hit a fly ball to medium depth center field and Bradley nailed Bautista at the plate to end the threat.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez didn’t earn his first win since May 26 but he pitched well enough to keep the Sox within striking distance. Rodriguez threw 107 pitches in six innings but with his best velocity in some time he was able to hold the Blue Jays at bay, allowing just two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out eight, while producing a groundball percentage nearly double his rate for the season.
The Blue Jays scored their first run in the second inning. Kevin Pillar doubled and took third on an infield single by Barney. Teoscar Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly to center to make it 1-0.
Kendrys Morales led off the sixth inning with a home run on an inside 0-2 fastball to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile Toronto starter Marco Estrada, who entered the game with a 5.23 ERA, shut out the Sox on three hits through seven innings. He walked three, struck out three and retired the last 10 batters he faced after a fourth-inning two-out walk to Xander Bogaerts.
The Sox only threat against Estrada came in the second inning when they loaded the bases with two outs after a Ramirez double and walks to Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez. But Bradley struck out.
Toronto reliever Dominic Leone kept the Sox quite in the eighth inning but Joe Kelly, Addison Reed and Craig Kimbrel did the same to the Blue Jays to set up the ninth-inning comeback.