The Boston Red Sox remained patient at the plate and capitalized in a timely fashion to notch a second straight win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Tuesday night.
For three consecutive innings, the Red Sox were held scoreless, struggling to push across any sort of momentum against Blue Jays starting pitcher Chris Bassitt, who surrendered two runs through six innings. However, after the right-hander was pulled and Toronto signaled to its bullpen, Boston spotted an opportunity to put together a late-game comeback, which saved the team’s current four-game winning streak in a 4-3 victory over the division rival Blue Jays.
“It was awesome that we put it together as a team,” Ceddanne Rafaela told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Like I said before, when we put it together, we’re gonna come out with a win.”
Rafaela had a hand in the eighth-inning comeback, driving in a speedy David Hamilton for the go-ahead run with a single, which also extended the rookie’s hitting streak to seven games in a row.
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Similar to Boston’s offensive momentum in Toronto, the team’s begun to show signs of breaking out of its stagnant .500 stigma. They’ve won four straight, taking two against the Blue Jays right after taking back-to-back wins over the American League East-leading New York Yankees at Fenway Park.
So… are the Red Sox on the cusp of a season-wide momentum shift?
“It’s been good and we’re playing good baseball,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “It seems like everybody’s locked in and understanding their roles, how we’re gonna use them. It’s been fun to watch. That was a very intense game, a really good game, and we were able to win it.”
Here are more notes from Tuesday night’s Red Sox-Blue Jays game:
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— Rafaela is hitting .377 with four extra-base hits, eight RBIs, and eight runs through a 15-game span in June. The rookie went 3-for-4 with a double at the plate in Boston’s second straight win over Toronto.
“It’s just being positive,” Rafaela said. “Being positive, having good people around me. I think that’s helping me a lot.”
— Red Sox starter Tanner Houck took home a no-decision after tossing 5 2/3 innings while allowing two earned runs off six hits and two walks, striking out five Blue Jays hitters. The right-hander remains 7-5 this season.
“The pitching part of it today was good. Just bad luck for Tanner,” Cora said. “Just the (second-inning) double was hit hard. Besides that, he was in control.”
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— O’Neill is hitting .382 with four home runs and nine RBIs, recording a 1.215 OPS through nine games played in June. The right-handed slugger went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, and two runs on Tuesday night.
“We’re all swinging the bat well so hopefully we keep that going,” O’Neill told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.
— Boston improved its record against division opponents to 9-9 this season.
— The Red Sox and Blue Jays conclude their three-game set on Wednesday night. First pitch from Rogers Centre is set for 7:07 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
