Donaldson delivers early warning

BOSTON— The Blue Jays promised to play this season out until the end.

They watched the Yankees celebrate clinching a playoff berth at the Rogers Centre on Saturday. They could soon see the Red Sox celebrate a division title, and might even be there when the Bronx Bombers nail down home field for the wild-card game on the weekend at Yankee Stadium.

Are the Jays Fenway Park Bringers of Champagne? They at least postponed that possibility by beating the Red Sox 6-4 on Monday night.

The Jays are still playing most of their veterans, including the Bringer of Rain, Josh Donaldson, who is roaring down the stretch on seemingly fresh legs. He’s playing like a dog chasing a Frisbee — not for a 2018 contract, but instead for a free-agent deal in 2019 and beyond.

Donaldson homered in the first inning for the 14th time this year, a career high to move ahead of Giancarlo Stanton for the major-league lead in that category. He had three hits on the night and is batting .385 since Sept. 15 with three doubles and six homers. He has 22 homers since the all-star break and 31 for the year.

Manager John Gibbons is already counting down the days that he is obligated to meet the press. It’s down to five, and he’s thrilled. He was asked what goals remain for this season, and what he is most looking forward to finding out about his team. Once again, he mentioned his 24-year-old left fielder, Teoscar Hernandez.

“We want to see Teoscar play it out,” Gibbons said. “He’s looking really good right now. We’ve been saying that for years, looking for a guy (to handle leadoff ). We’ve had to juggle, and you don’t like doing that. Whether Teoscar can do that, I don’t know. He’s looked good at everything he’s doing right now.”

Hernandez had homered in three straight games entering play at Fenway Park, a record for a Blue Jays rookie. In the third inning with the bases loaded against Drew Pomeranz, the Dominican native crashed a two-run double high off the Green Monster in left, turning a deficit into a lead. Then in the fifth, pinch-hitter Sam Travis lambasted a line drive off the scoreboard built into the leftfield wall. Hernandez played the rebound perfectly on one hop and easily threw the runner out trying to stretch it into a double. Now 11 of his last 18 hits have been for extra bases, and he has 16 RBIs in 22 games.

In a ballpark where every run matters, Ryan Goins homered in the ninth for a two-run lead. Roberto Osuna picked up save No. 38.