Caleb Durbin made Toronto pay again.
A week after lining the game-winning hit in the 13th inning following an intentional walk to Wilyer Abreu, Durbin came through with a much louder response on Thursday afternoon. This time, he didn’t need a single. He turned on a hanging 80 mph sweeper and launched a grand slam to left field, breaking the game open in a 7-0 Red Sox win over the Blue Jays.
The inning had started with a small-ball twist that nobody really saw coming. With runners at second and third and one out, Willson Contreras dropped down a sacrifice bunt - just the sixth of his career - to move them over. Then, with first base open, Blue Jays manager John Schneider chose to intentionally walk Masataka Yoshida.
That set up Durbin, and Durbin did what he’s been doing to teams lately: make them regret the decision.
The blast turned a 1-0 game into a 5-0 cushion, and it was his second career grand slam. His first came earlier in that same series against the White Sox last week.
Durbin wasn’t done there. He added an RBI single in the ninth to finish 3-for-5 with five RBIs, giving the Red Sox the kind of performance they badly needed after a rough stretch. In five days, Boston had matched its loss total from the previous 44 days, so this one mattered.
Payton Tolle gave the Red Sox exactly the kind of start they needed to hang around. He carved through Blue Jays hitters for eight shutout innings, allowing just four baserunners on two hits and two walks. The offense had only one run to work with until Durbin changed the game.
Contreras had gotten Boston on the board with an RBI double in the top of the first, and from there the Red Sox had to wait for another big swing. Durbin provided it.
There’s been a clear pattern in Boston’s recent run: when Durbin is rolling, the Red Sox look different. He came into the day hitting .162 with a .479 OPS, and now he’s up to .253 with a .732 OPS. He’s also been playing through an injured pinky since last week, but he has stayed in the lineup every day.
And if teams want the reminder, Durbin has now delivered it more than once: walking the man in front of him has not been a safe play.
In Other News...
Rafael Devers Is Putting The Red Sox Trade Back Under Fire
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Instead, Devers production has dipped in San Francisco, and the ripple effects are being felt well beyond the Bay Area. The Giants are left sorting through a deal that has not gone the way they hoped, while their general managers mixed comments after the deadline suggested a roster still very much in flux, the sort of uncertainty that can make a trade look different a few months later than it did on the day it was made. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox May Be Tipping Their Hand With Franklin Arias
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The timing remains unclear, with reports leaving open everything from a debut this year to a longer runway that stretches into 2027. For now, the Red Sox are still evaluating where he could make the most sense down the stretch and, if the club gets there, in October. No official decision has been made on a promotion, which leaves Arias as both a possible answer and a question Boston has not quite settled yet. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Bullpen Shuffle Leaves Seth Martinez In A Strange Spot
Seth Martinezs time on the Boston roster took another turn this week when the Red Sox designated the right-hander for assignment and then moved quickly to bring up Alec Gamboa. The shuffle came as Boston tried to keep its bullpen moving, with the club also dealing with a separate roster hit in the form of Garrett Whitlock landing on the injured list.
Martinez did not get claimed after going on waivers, leaving him in an unusual holding pattern within the organization. He now has the option to elect free agency, but for the moment he remains in the system, a reminder of how quickly a relievers path can change when a team is forced to juggle depth and health at the big-league level. [Read more 🡒]