Field Level Media
Apr 9, 2019
Matt Shoemaker pitched into the sixth inning to earn his third straight win, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit an RBI single and stole home, and the visiting Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox 7-5 Tuesday afternoon on the day the Red Sox unfurled their 2018 world championship banner at Fenway Park.
Boston left-hander Chris Sale (0-3) continued to struggle, allowing seven hits and five runs while striking out three in four innings.
Shoemaker (3-0) allowed five hits, two walks and four runs (two earned) and added four strikeouts as the Blue Jays ended a four-game losing streak.
Ken Giles pitched around a single and a walk in the ninth to earn his third save of the season.
Mitch Moreland and Mookie Betts homered for the Red Sox in their home opener.
Moreland 's fourth homer this season came in the first inning.
Boston led 2-0 in the second after Xander Bogaerts scored from third on a double-play grounder by Dustin Pedroia, who was removed from the injured list Tuesday. Bogaerts had reached base on a grounder when Shoemaker took first baseman Alen Hanson's feed but failed to step on first base for an error. Bogaerts took third on a single by Rafael Devers.
The Blue Jays scored twice in the third on singles by Hanson, Billy McKinney and Freddy Galvis, followed by a sacrifice fly by Teoscar Hernandez.
Toronto added three runs in the fourth to lead 5-2. Randal Grichuk and Danny Jansen led off with singles. Grichuk took third on a passed ball. Gurriel hit an RBI single. Richard Urena sacrificed the runners to second and third. Jansen scored on a passed ball, and then Gurriel stole home.
Betts hit his third homer this season to lead off the sixth inning. Tim Mayza replaced Shoemaker after Bogaerts walked with two out. Bogaerts scored when Hernandez dropped the ball for a two-base error on a fly to left by Devers. Daniel Hudson replaced Mayza to finish the inning and pitch a perfect seventh.
Tyler Thornburg replaced Sale and allowed one hit in two innings before Heath Hembree took over in the seventh.
After a two-out walk to Hernandez, Brandon Workman replaced Hembree and, after a stolen base, walked Brandon Drury and allowed Grichuk's RBI single.
Joe Biagini allowed two-out doubles to J.D. Martinez and Bogaerts in the eighth as Boston cut the lead to 6-5.
Matt Barnes hit McKinney with a pitch in the top of the ninth and Galvis hit an RBI double to restore Toronto's two-run lead.
--Field Level Media