Connor Wong was in the Red Sox lineup Tuesday night only because wide receivers Christian Vazquez and Kevin Plawecki had tested positive for COVID-19 and were on the disabled list.
The rookie, who had been called up from Triple-A Worcester the day before, deftly handled five pitchers and drove in the winning run as the Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1, before a crowd of 31,640.
Sox pitchers allowed eight hits but retired 14 of the last 15 batters.
Hansel Robles was the winner and Garrett Whitlock got the save. The Sox (6-5) have won five of seven.
Wong drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Bobby Dalbec reached on a two-base throwing error by shortstop Bo Bichette to start the inning, moved to third on Jackie Bradley Jr.’s groundout, and scored when Wong sent Yimi Garcia’s two-strike pitch down the line. Dalbec scored easily.
Toronto left-hander Yusei Kikuchi made his Fenway Park debut last April as a member of the Mariners. He allowed five runs in 4 ⅔ innings in a game the Sox won, 6-5.
A year later, Kikuchi seemed headed for a similar problem when he walked Kiké Hernández and Trevor Story on nine pitches to top the bottom of the first inning.
But Kikuchi got ahead of Rafael Devers and threw a slider that slammed into second base for a double play. Xander Bogaerts followed with a groundout to shortstop.
Kikuchi drew a starting walk to JD Martinez in the second inning.
The Sox caught up with him in the third when Hernandez and Story hit back-to-back doubles to left field. With an opportunity to add, Devers and Bogaerts grounded out to shortstop.
Bichette made a good play in the hole and followed it up with a strong pitch to put Bogaerts ahead by a half step.
The Sox again threatened in the fourth inning. Martinez reached on an error by Bichette, who struggled to catch the ball and threw a throw over the head of first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Alex Verdugo’s single to right-center field led Martinez to third. Bobby Dalbec’s tapping at home plate served only to move Verdugo to second.
Kikuchi then struck out Christian Arroyo looking at a fastball and retired Connor Wong on a ball back to the mound. That left the Sox 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position in just four innings.
Kikuchi went five innings and allowed one run on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Red Sox starter Nate Eovaldi allowed one run in 4 ⅔ innings and needed 95 pitches to do it.
The Blue Jays collected seven hits against the right-hander. But the only run came on a home run to right field by Zack Collins in the second inning.
Arroyo, starting his third career game in right field, assisted Eovaldi with two rushing receptions.
The first came in the first inning when Arroyo chased down a shot from Bichette. With two on and two out in the fourth, Arroyo took a late jump on a well-hit ball by George Springer, but used his speed to track it down.
With Christian Vazquez and Kevin Plawecki on the COVID-19 disabled list, Wong was behind the plate for the first time this season. But it was the fourth time he had caught Eovaldi since last season.
They are a good tandem. Eovaldi has allowed seven earned runs in 25 innings in those four games with two walks and 27 strikeouts. Both reside in the Houston area, and Eovaldi often pitches to Wong in the offseason.
Peter Abraham can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.
Reference-www.bostonglobe.com