J.D. Martinez hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth inning and the visiting Boston Red Sox went on to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 on Thursday night.
The Red Sox took the final two games of the three-game series after dropping the opener.
Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale (2-1) allowed three runs, four hits, two walks and struck out four in six innings.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth to earn his seventh save of the season.
Devon Travis and Justin Smoak homered for Toronto.
Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada (2-2) allowed five runs, eight hits, one walk and struck out five in five innings.
The Blue Jays scored once in the first inning on Kevin Pillar’s sacrifice fly, driving in Teoscar Hernandez, who walked and took third on Smoak’s single to right.
Travis’ first home of the season, a solo shot in the second inning, pushed the Jays’ lead to 2-0.
Andrew Benintendi hit an RBI double for Boston in the third. It scored Tzu-Wei Lin, who ran for Brock Holt after the Red Sox shortstop doubled to stretch his hit streak to nine games. Holt had a tight left hamstring that was to be evaluated later.
Smoak hit his third homer of the season in the bottom of the third.
The Red Sox trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the fourth. Martinez singled and was forced out at second on a grounder by Mitch Moreland, who took third on a double by Eduardo Nunez and scored on a sacrifice fly by Rafael Devers.
Boston took a 5-3 lead in the fifth when Martinez hit his fifth homer of the season after two-out singles by Benintendi and Hanley Ramirez.
Toronto cut the lead to one in the seventh against reliever Carson Smith when Travis tripled and scored on a groundout by pinch hitter Kendrys Morales.
Toronto reliever Aaron Loup was perfect in the sixth and seventh, Seung Hwan Oh had a perfect eighth and Danny Barnes pitched around two walks in the ninth.
Boston reliever Matt Barnes pitched around two walks in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
Advertisement
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.