Aaron Sanchez gave his latest blister problems the finger on Wednesday night.
The Blue Jays righthander, pulled in his previous start last Friday in Chicago thanks to a blister on his right middle finger, supplied six innings of solid pitching against the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre.
His Jays teammates scratched and clawed their way back into the game, and more than once.
But Boston’s Michael Chavis homered off Jimmy Cordero (0-1) with one out in the 13th, supplying the deciding run in a 6-5 Red Sox victory.
Rowdy Tellez tied the game 5-5 in the bottom of the 12th with two out, smacking a Heath Hembree pitch to centre for a solo homer.
The Red Sox went ahead in their half of the 12th when Mookie Betts hammered a Joe Biagini fastball beyond the wall in centre field for a solo shot.
Toronto loaded the bases with one out in the 10th, but Marcus Walden got Brandon Drury to fly out to left after striking out Freddy Galvis.
The Jays tied the game 4-4 with two out in the ninth when Danny Jansen, pinch-hitting for Luke Maile, singled to right off Walden, scoring Drury, who doubled with one out.
Toronto shortened Boston’s lead to one run in the eighth when Justin Smoak hit a solo homer off Matt Barnes.
There was a historic moment when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went deep in the fourth inning, his first home run in front of the home fans after he blasted four on the road last week.
That wasn’t enough with Sanchez, who left with the Jays down 2-1, on the mound. Still, the positives outweighed the few negatives for the 27-year-old, who has not registered a win since April 27, going six starts without one.
The Red Sox managed just four hits off the Jays starter, scoring two runs in the third as Sanchez, briefly, struggled.
Sanchez hit Jackie Bradley Jr. to lead off the inning, and then got the next two batters out. A walk to Mookie Betts was followed by singles by Mitch Moreland and Xander Bogaerts, each of which scored a run.
After Bogaerts’ single, Sanchez settled, retiring the next eight Boston batters.
The blemishes for Sanchez included two hit batters and a wild pitch. Otherwise, his line included five strikeouts and just two walks.
The Jays were held in check by Red Sox starter Rick Porcello. In six innings, Porcello gave up three hits and one run.
Boston scored its third run off Daniel Hudson in the seventh, as Bradley crossed the plate when Mitch Moreland grounded out.
The Jays’ second run came in the bottom of the seventh, when Brandon Workman walked Maile with the bases loaded to score Galvis.
Boston’s Rafael Devers homered off Derek Law in the eighth to put the visitors up 4-2.
VLAD JR GOES DEEP
The Jays had produced just a single by Tellez to lead off the second when Guerrero, the first Toronto batter of the fourth, dug in.
With the Jays trailing 2-0, Guerrero swung through a curveball, watched two fastballs go for balls and then stepped into a 90.8 mile-per-hour fastball, crushing the pitch off the facing of the flight deck in straightaway centre field as a crowd of 18,285 watched.
All five of Guerrero’s homers have come in the past eight games and this one some 48 hours after he was named the American League player of the week.
Guerrero recorded the Jays’ third hit when he singled to centre with two out in the sixth.
In the field, Guerrero made a fine defensive play when he dove forward to catch a bunt attempt by Boston catcher Sandy Leon, managing to make the catch.
STRO SHOWS
Marcus Stroman took to Twitter to defend himself after comments made by Boston manager Alex Cora following Tuesday’s game.
The Sox weren’t pleased when Stroman allegedly made a quick pitch with Michael Chavis at bat. Chavis and Boston pitcher Chris Sale might have had some words for Stroman during the game.
“I compete,” Stroman tweeted on Wednesday morning. “That’s it. Didn’t know I had to cater to opposing teams to like me. Everyone messes with timing, deliveries and pitching mechanics these days. Everyone. Get over it. I’m going to keep that dawg mentality always. Pops raised me right and approves of it all!”
Cora had said on Tuesday night that Stroman “competes a certain way and people don’t like it,” among other observations.
On Wednesday, Cora was fully aware of Stroman’s tweets.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Cora said. “I’ve got nothing against him.”
DIAMOND DUST
Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said during his pre-game availability he would have a better idea of his Thursday starter depending on how deep Sanchez pitched. The longer Sanchez went, the greater the chance it would be Clayton Richard on the mound in the series finale; the shorter, it would be Ryan Feierabend, though Montoyo wasn’t counting on running through his bullpen. For Boston, righthander Ryan Weber will start … A sore groin helped keep Billy McKinney from starting, but he pinch-hit for Jonathan Davis in the seventh … The reports the Jays are getting on Lourdes Gurriel Jr. from triple-A Buffalo are positive. “He just needs to be more consistent with his throws and stuff,” Montoyo said. “That was the main problem when we sent him down (in mid-April), that he had the problem throwing, but he has been playing everywhere — short, third, second, left. He likes playing (in the outfield). But he also likes playing in the infield. If we get him to playing the infield again comfortable, that’s good for us and for him that he can play anywhere.” … The Jays released outfielder Ben Revere from his minor-league contract with Buffalo.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
