BOSTON --- The walk, the strikeout and the home run are supposed to represent baseball’s three true outcomes in 2019.
Let’s add two more to the list from Wednesday night’s action at Fenway Park. If Eduardo Rodriguez pitches six innings or more this season, the Red Sox are winning. If Aaron Sanchez takes the ball at any point, the Blue Jays are losing.
Boston rode another strong outing from its left-hander to victory and Toronto dropped yet another [...]
BOSTON --- The walk, the strikeout and the home run are supposed to represent baseball’s three true outcomes in 2019.
Let’s add two more to the list from Wednesday night’s action at Fenway Park. If Eduardo Rodriguez pitches six innings or more this season, the Red Sox are winning. If Aaron Sanchez takes the ball at any point, the Blue Jays are losing.
Boston rode another strong outing from its left-hander to victory and Toronto dropped yet another contest featuring its right-hander. Matt Barnes, Rafael Devers and Brandon Workman each lent a helping hand as the Red Sox squeezed their way to a 5-4 win.
Rodriguez worked into the seventh, Barnes struck out a pair to strand the bases loaded and Devers knocked in four runs courtesy of three more hits. Workman wriggled out of two jams and cobbled together a five-out save as Boston moved into position to win the four-game series on Thursday.
The Red Sox have won all 11 of Rodriguez’s starts this season when recording 18 outs or more and 22 of his last 23. His lone defeat came on June 29 last year, an 8-1 loss to the Yankees in the Bronx. Rodriguez allowed just three hits, walked three and struck out four in his latest strong outing.
The Blue Jays put their first two men on in the seventh to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in a 4-2 game. Barnes was summoned with one out and walked Cavan Biggio to load the bases. The right-hander fanned pinch hitter Danny Jansen and Eric Sogard to escape the jam, his eighth and ninth strikeouts against 17 batters faced in July.
Workman was called on for extended duty after Josh Taylor gave up a solo homer onto Lansdowne Street by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the eighth. The right-hander struck out Justin Smoak and Freddy Galvis to leave the potential go-ahead run at first base, allowing Boston to add some insurance in the bottom half of the inning. Devers ripped an RBI single into right-center, restoring the two-run cushion.
There was more stress for Workman in the ninth after walking back-to-back hitters to start the inning. Sogard struck out swinging and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined to deep right, but Gurriel found the middle with an RBI single. Randal Grichuk waved at a curveball in the dirt and Workman closed it out on a season-high 45 pitches.
Brock Holt’s run-scoring single in the second and a solo home run to the Monster Seats by Devers left the Red Sox with a 2-1 lead in the third. Boston added two more runs in the fourth thanks to Devers, who sent a screaming liner up the gap in right-center for a double. It was a 4-2 Red Sox lead that survived through the late innings, and Toronto lost for the 11th straight game started by Sanchez.
Teoscar Hernandez was the one batter Rodriguez couldn’t solve, as the outfielder continues to torment the Red Sox. Hernandez crushed a pair of solo homers in the third and fifth, finding the camera well and Monster Seats, respectively. Hernandez now has nine career homers in just 20 games here and 11 career homers in just 30 games against Boston.
The rest of the Blue Jays went just 1-for-20 against Rodriguez, as Smoak managed the only other hit in the second. Smoak sent a rocket off the wall in center field and was thrown out at second by Jackie Bradley Jr. while trying to dig out a double. Toronto moved just one more runner into scoring position against Rodriguez when Biggio drew a leadoff walk in the seventh and advanced on an error.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25