Blue Jays snap Boston’s 10-game streak
BOSTON Kevin Pillar had four hits and Justin Smoak had three, including a pair of homers, and they drove in four runs apiece on Friday night to help the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 13-7 and snap Boston’s 10-game winning streak.
Dwight Smith Jr. also homered for Toronto, which won for the second time in six games. Jake Petricka (1-0) pitched two innings of shutout ball in relief of Ryan Borucki, who lasted just three-plus innings but left with an 8-6 lead.
Mookie Betts had three hits, including two triples, to raise his major league-leading batting average to .357. J.D. Martinez had two hits for the Red Sox, who won 15 of their previous 17 games and will head into the All-Star break with the best record in baseball and the AL East lead.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had two hits — and two of Toronto’s four errors. Yangervis Solarte also had a pair of hits.
The Red Sox led 1-0 after one and posted five runs in the second to make it 6-3, getting a two-run triple off the Green Monster from Betts to take the lead. But Toronto answered with five in the third against 11-game winner Rick Porcello on Smoak’s leadoff homer, Pillar’s two-run double and then the two-run shot by Smith.
Betts, who tripled in each of the first two innings, also walked once and singled. Right-hander Seunghwan Oh came on to face him with two outs in the seventh and Toronto leading 8-7; Betts lined out to third, where Solarte did a celebratory dance with Gurriel, the shortstop, before leaving the field.