Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 4

 

Last night, Anthony Seigler went 4-of-5 at bat, including a leadoff home run in the first inning and an RBI double in the eighth. He hit a single in the third and then Rafaela brought him home with a homer to deep left center. A Monasterio sac fly brought Yoshida home from third in the sixth to make the score 4-0 before Toronto even scored their first run. 

Back on February 9, the Red Sox got Seigler, Monasterio, Durbin, and a draft pick from the Milwaukee Brewers for Kyle Harrison, David Hamilton, and Shane Drohan. I think it's now safe to say Boston came out ahead in that deal. Boston is 24-14 since Seigler's June 4 MLB debut in a Red Sox uniform, which along with Durbin and Monasterio's contributions, may account for the Sox' midseason turnaround as much as anything. Also, Seigler is the second Navajo to ever play in MLB, as if there weren't already reasons to cheer for him.

The 15-game streak now in the record books, the Sox are back to winning again. Last night, the Jays challenged Boston's 4-0, sixth-inning lead, scoring three in the seventh and another in the eighth. But rather than give up and collapse like the first-half Red Sox might have, the new, improved team came back in the bottom of the eighth. Gonzalez doubled to left field, scoring Durran, and then Seigler hit his RBI  double to bring Gonzalez home. The Sox won, 6-4.

In only his third start since 2024, Patrick Sandoval went 4⅔ shutout innings, striking out three and giving up five base hits. Weissert and Whitlock gave up the Blue Jay runs in the seventh and eighth, but Guerrero was perfect in the sixth and Chapman gave up a walk in the ninth because of course he did, but also ended the game with a Toronto K.

Boston (53-49) is now 6½ games back from first place Tampa Bay and 4½ back from New York. With last night's win, they move up in the Wild Card standings and now control the second berth, a half game ahead of Cleveland.    

Tonight, both teams will throw their pitching aces onto the mound. The Red Sox will start their 20-win contender, Sonny Gray (12-1, 2.48), and the Jays will start Dylan Cease (6-5, 2.67). In his last start against Toronto, Gray went seven innings and gave up three runs in a 4-3 defeat, although Chapman took the loss, while Cease last went five innings in a 6-1 Jays win, so the Sox have their work cut out for them.