The Red Sox didn’t waste much time getting back in the win column Friday night, and they had to sweat a little before finishing the job.
Boston beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-4, turning an early cushion into a tense finish and then answering right back in the bottom of the eighth. Anthony Seigler opened the scoring with a homer in the first, Ceddanne Rafaela followed with a two-run blast in the third, and Andruw Monasterio added a sacrifice fly in the sixth to push the lead to 4-0.
That looked comfortable until Toronto flipped the script in a hurry. Kazuma Okamoto blasted a three-run homer in the seventh, then Andres Gimenez brought home another run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth to tie the game at 4-4.
Boston’s response came immediately. Romy Gonzalez and Seigler each delivered RBI doubles in the bottom of the eighth, and Aroldis Chapman closed the door to protect the 6-4 win.
Seigler was the big bat of the night, finishing 4-for-5 with two doubles and a home run. Rafaela and Duran also chipped in with two hits apiece.
Patrick Sandoval gave Boston a strong start, throwing 4.2 scoreless innings in what was his best outing so far.
After the Red Sox’s historic winning streak ended on Wednesday night, Friday’s game had all the makings of a letdown. Instead, Boston found a way through a few different trouble spots and came away with a result that fit the way this team has been playing.
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Matt Chapman is one of the more interesting names in that mix, but he also comes with the kind of price tag and current production that can make a fit complicated. Boston already has Caleb Durbin handling third base, so the appeal would have to come from elsewhere, and the other Giants names floating around, Willy Adames and Rafael Devers, may line up more cleanly with what the Red Sox need as they try to stay in the race. [Read more 🡒]