Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. puts the home run jacket on Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman after his solo shot during the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox at the Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays won 6-2 on April 25, 2022.John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Bo Bichette hit a tiebreaking eighth-inning grand slam to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night at Rogers Center.
The Toronto shortstop converted a 1-0 pitch from reliever Tyler Danish for his second home run of the season. Santiago Espinal, Bradley Zimmer and George Springer had reached base on one-out singles before Bichette’s first career grand slam.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Matt Chapman hit solo homers and starter José Berríos pitched more than seven innings for the Blue Jays (11-6), who have won five of their last six games.
Toronto outhit Boston 10-7. The Red Sox (7-10) have lost five of their last six games.
Berríos made a good defensive play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the second inning. He snagged a comeback from Christian Arroyo and threw to the plate to start a 1-2-3 double play.
Springer also showed some defensive chops with a standout catch to rob Kevin Plawecki of the extra bases in the fifth inning. Toronto’s center fielder chased down the line and made a diving grab just short of the warning track.
Gurriel led off the bottom half of the inning with his second home run of the year. The line drive just cleared the fence before landing in Toronto’s bullpen.
Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi had retired 11 straight batters before Gurriel activated the 0-2 slider.
Chapman’s solo shot, his third home run of the season, came on a 1-2 cut in the seventh inning.
Berrios was retired by winger Adam Cimber (4-0) after allowing back-to-back singles in the eighth. Plawecki bunted runners ahead and Kike Hernandez drove in Bobby Dalbec with a single.
Arroyo tied the game when he scored on Alex Verdugo’s sacrifice fly.
Berríos and Eovaldi had similar lines. Berríos allowed two earned runs, five hits and a walk while he struck out four. Eovaldi also allowed two earned runs and five hits, but did not walk and had five strikeouts.
Matt Strahm (1-1) took the loss. Julian Merryweather pitched the ninth inning for the Blue Jays.
The game took two hours and 16 minutes to play.
covid list
The Blue Jays placed infielder Cavan Biggio on the COVID-related injured list before the game. Right-hander Bowden Francis was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo.
The Red Sox placed right-handers Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford on the restricted list and added right-handers Tyler Danish and John Schreiber to the active list.
happy homer
Entering Monday’s games, the Blue Jays led the major leagues with 22 home runs this season. Eleven different Toronto players have delved in this season, also tops in the big leagues.
sports night
The first game of the Blue Jays’ 10-game homestand drew a season-low 20,981 at the Rogers Center.
The previous season’s home attendance minimum was 27,490 for an April 17 game against Oakland. The Blue Jays’ road low is 25,068 for an April 12 game against the New York Yankees.
JD as DH
Boston slugger JD Martinez returned to the lineup Monday night after missing four games with a left adductor strain.
He served as the designated hitter and batted fifth in the order.
born before christ
Victoria native Nick Pivetta is scheduled to start for Boston on Tuesday night against fellow right-hander Kevin Gausman.
Pivetta’s only appearance at Rogers Center as a member of the Red Sox came last August when he allowed one hit over six shutout innings in a 1-0 loss.
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