Enmanuel Valdez and Jarren Duran hit solo home runs and the visiting Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Wednesday night.
Duran also had an RBI single to help the Red Sox sweep the three-game series and extend their winning streak to five games.
Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman (5-6) allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out four in 5 2/3 innings.
Boston right-hander Brayan Bello (7-4) allowed two runs, seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts in six innings. He also hit two batters.
Boston scored once in the third. Romy Gonzalez reached first base on third baseman Addison Barger’s fielding error on a grounder. Gonzalez stole second and scored on a single by David Hamilton, who continued to third when Kevin Kiermaier’s throw home hit the runner.
Boston added a run in the fourth on Valdez’s sixth homer of the season, a towering drive to right.
Toronto stranded two runners in each of the first three innings before breaking through in the fourth with two runs. Barger, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Kiermaier singled in succession to score one run. Spencer Horwitz walked to load the bases. The tying run scored when Justin Turner grounded into a double play.
Boston regained the lead when Duran hit his sixth homer of the season on a mammoth drive to center with one out in the fifth. Duran also extended his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games.
Boston scored twice in the sixth. Masataka Yoshida led off with a single, moved to second when Valdez walked and advanced to third after Kiermaier made a superb catch at the wall on Dominic Smith’s drive. Yoshida scored on Gonzalez’s infield single to second. Tim Mayza replaced Gausman and surrendered Duran’s RBI single.
Justin Slaten allowed singles to Turner and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to open the home seventh. Turner took third on a flyout to center and scored on a wild pitch.
Boston scored twice in the eighth. Valdez and Reese McGuire opened with singles against Ryan Burr, and Smith hit an RBI double. Another run scored when Guerrero committed Toronto’s fourth error of the game on Hamilton’s two-out grounder against Zach Pop.
–Field Level Media
