BOSTON (AP) — Pinch-runner David Hamilton scampered home when the drawn-in Toronto infield couldn’t handle Trevor Story’s nubber to second base, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 4-3 in 10 innings on Thursday to avoid a four-game sweep.
Boston rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the eighth and trailed again after George Springer’s sacrifice fly in the 10th. Jarren Duran led off the bottom half with a single to score the automatic runner. After Duran was caught stealing, the Red Sox loaded the bases on Rafael Devers’ single and two hit batters.
With one out and the infield in, Story hit the ball off the end of the bat to second baseman Andrés Giménez, who was unable to field it cleanly and throw home. He did recover and get a meaningless out at first — after Hamilton slid head-first into home — avoiding what would have been Toronto’s third error of the game.
Brennan Bernardino (1-0) got the win after pitching a hitless 10th. Nick Sandlin (0-2) allowed two runs — one earned — two hits and two hitters while pitching two-thirds of an inning. Tyler Heineman had three hits for Toronto.
Key moment
The Red Sox tied the game 2-2 in the eighth without a base hit.
Third baseman Will Wagner misplayed Rob Refsnyder’s grounder to lead off the inning, and Duran walked. Brendon Little struck out Devers on a 3-2 pitch, then Yimi García got Alex Bregman to hit the ball to third and barely beat out the double play relay to first.
Garcia then uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Refsnyder to score. (The Blue Jays asked for a review, thinking the pitch hit batter Triston Casas, but it did not.)
Key stat
With two more errors, the Red Sox have 14 for the season — the most in the majors. They had allowed six unearned runs in their previous four games.
Up next
Toronto will send right-hander Bowden Francis (1-1) to the mound on Friday in Baltimore against righty Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1). The Red Sox head to Chicago, where lefty Sean Newcomb (0-1) will face righty Davis Martin in the opener against the White Sox.
