Ortiz, Betts Help Red Sox Beat Toronto
BOSTON -- David Ortiz singled home two more runs and the Boston Red Sox ended their three-game skid and Toronto's four-game winning streak with a bizarre 6-4 victory over the Blue Jays on Saturday.
Bizarre? The game featured two runs scoring on the same passed ball; Xander Bogaerts going from first to third on a groundout; two calls overturned, one giving the Red Sox a run when Blake Swihart slid home with Boston's sixth run; and Dustin Pedroia stealing third against a shift while Marcus Stroman held the ball.
Also, in a span of several minutes, the Red Sox lost two players -- left fielder Blake Swihart and catcher Ryan Hanigan both leaving with injuries in the seventh inning.
There were 11 walks in the game, which also produced three more Hanigan passed balls (17 for the season) trying to handle Steven Wright's knuckleball -- two runs scoring on a strikeout/passed ball.
When Hanigan threw to first to try to get Michael Saunders, Wright stood in the middle of the grass and didn't cover the plate, with Jose Bautista scoring from second.
There were also five double plays, including three by the Red Sox.
Ortiz, who entered the game with a major league-high 51 RBIs, was pitched to with second and third and one out in the third inning and broke his bat on his two-run single -- giving him 28 RBIs in his last 22 games.
Mookie Betts, who has 18 RBIs in his last 16 games, had two RBI hits and a stolen base, and Bogaerts, whose 26-game hitting streak ended Friday, delivered three hits as the Red Sox hammered Stroman (5-2) for the second time in less than a week.
In three starts against Boston this season, Stroman has worked 16 1/3 innings and allowed 18 earned runs and 26 hits. Last weekend in Toronto, he allowed seven runs and 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision.
Wright (6-4) battled through five innings, throwing 111 pitches and walking a season-high five batters, but won his third straight start. Matt Barnes allowed a run in two innings, Junichi Tazawa pitched a perfect eighth and Craig Kimbrel worked the ninth for his 13th save.
The four pitchers combined on a four-hitter.
After Hanigan left the game at the start of the seventh with a neck strain, Swihart suffered a left ankle injury later in the inning -- the latter making a catch against the foul territory side wall in left field. The catch was overturned because the ball was judged to have hit the wall before entering Swihart's glove.
The loss was only the fourth in the last 15 games for the Blue Jays.
NOTES: Toronto 3B Josh Donaldson was out because of a jammed right thumb and is day to day. SS Darwin Barney shifted to third base and Ryan Goins was at shortstop. The Jays are without disabled SS Troy Tulowitzki (quad), who is expected back this week. ... Toronto RHP Marco Estrada, who starts the series finale, has held current Red Sox hitters to a .224 batting average in four appearances, including three starts. CF Mookie Betts is 0-for-8 against him and SS Xander Bogaerts 2-for-14. DH David Ortiz is 3-for-14, but two of the hits are home runs. ... LHP Eduardo Rodriguez makes his second start of the season for Boston, throwing six innings of two-run ball in his 2016 debut after returning from a knee injury. He is 1-1 in his brief career against Toronto, but the Jays are hitting .344 against him and he has a lofty 8.44 ERA against Toronto. ... A pregame moment of silence was observed for boxing great Muhammad Ali. "We lost another legend last night. Thank u for all u did - u will be missed. #RIPMuhammadAli," Ortiz said in a tweet.
