Blue Jays Soar Past Red Sox, Maintain AL East Tie
The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox 6-1 on Thursday night, propelled by a grand slam from Daulton Varsho and a two-run homer from George Springer. This victory allows the Blue Jays to maintain a tie with the New York Yankees for the AL East lead.
Game Summary
Toronto (91-68), looking to solidify their playoff position, snapped a losing streak and will conclude the regular season with a three-game series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox (87-72), despite the loss, remain in contention for a postseason berth but failed to clinch a spot on Thursday.
Boston currently holds the second AL wild card position, holding a slim lead over the Detroit Tigers (86-73) and the Houston Astros (85-74) with just three games remaining. Their final series will be at home against Detroit.
Pitching Dominance and Key Plays
Three Blue Jays pitchers combined for six perfect innings before Jarren Duran broke through with a double off Braydon Fisher in the seventh, later scoring on a single by Trevor Story. Toronto opener Louis Varland impressed, striking out three of six batters, while Eric Lauer retired 10 straight.
A highlight on defense came when right fielder Nathan Lukes made a diving catch on Cedanne Rafaela's liner to end the fifth. Yariel Rodriguez (3-2) finished the sixth, retiring two batters.
Offensive Power
Brayan Bello (11-9), the Red Sox starter, suffered his third consecutive losing start, allowing three runs — two earned — on three hits in five-plus innings. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached base in the sixth due to an error by Story.
The scoring outburst began when Addison Barger walked, Anthony Santander was hit by a pitch, and Varsho then launched his grand slam off left-hander Justin Wilson. Springer followed up with his team-leading 31st home run against Zack Kelly three batters later.
Key Moment and Stat
The decisive moment was undoubtedly Varsho's grand slam, connecting on an 0-2 pitch for his second grand slam of the season.
A telling statistic: Toronto is now 69-4 when scoring five runs or more.
Looking Ahead
Red Sox: LHP Kyle Harrison (1-1, 3.58 ERA) is slated to start Friday against Tigers RHP Casey Mize (14-6, 3.91 ERA).
Blue Jays: RHP Shane Bieber (3-2, 3.57 ERA) is scheduled to face Rays RHP Adrian Houser (8-4, 3.18 ERA) on Friday night.
