Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walks off of the field after a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, in Boston, on Aug. 27.Brian Fluharty/Reuters
Jarren Duran led off with a homer, Masataka Yoshida added a two-run single in a three-run first inning, and the Boston Red Sox ended a four-game losing streak with a 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
David Hamilton, Triston Casas and Wilyer Abreu also drove in runs for Boston, which had not won since beating Houston last Wednesday.
The turnaround started with Duran, manager Alex Cora said.
“He’s one of the best players in the big leagues. Every night, you’re like in awe of the things he’s doing,” Cora said. “He set the tempo right away. Got a pitch in, hit it hard and from there we just kept going.”
Duran is the first player in the majors since at least 1901 to reach 40 doubles, 10 triples, 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season, according to the Red Sox.
“It’s a cool honour, but at the end of the day it doesn’t do anything for the team unless I’m helping them win. But it’s a pretty awesome stat to have,” Duran said.
Boston ended the Blue Jays’ five-game winning streak. Toronto has still won 10 of its last 15, placing the team on the verge of climbing from the bottom of the American League East standings.
Will Wagner hit his first career homer for Toronto and Daulton Varsho hit a solo shot in the ninth. Varsho also had a single in the seventh and extended his hitting streak to 10 games. The homer also extended the Blue Jays’ run of consecutive games with at least one home run to 16 straight.
Duran hit his 20th homer of the season, driving an 0-1 fastball from Yariel Rodriguez to right. Boston added three in the fifth when Hamilton hit an RBI single, Casas drove in a run with a double and Abreu added an RBI single.
Wagner homered in the sixth, taking a sinker from Brennan Bernadino out to right-centre and cutting Boston’s lead to 6-2. Varsho hit his in the ninth, taking Jansen to the deepest part of the ballpark.
Cooper Criswell pitched 3 1/3 innings for Boston, allowing one run on five hits and three walks. He also hit two batters. Greg Weissert (3-2) got the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Rodriguez (1-6) allowed six earned runs on eight hits over five innings. He struck out three and walked one.
“I think when you get down in this park it’s tough,” Toronto manager John Schneider. “We had chances and I thought the guys really swung the bats well and just didn’t really cash in on the opportunities.”
Boston catcher Danny Jansen, who made history Monday when he played for the Red Sox in a game he started for Toronto before it was suspended because of weather June 26, helped stop two runs with some nice defence.
Jansen tagged out Joey Loperfido at the plate as he tried to score on a double by Wagner in the second.
In the fourth, Ernie Clement tried unsuccessfully to get around Jansen after tagging up on a fly to deep right by George Springer. Abreu’s throw was on target and in time to complete the unusual inning-ending double-play.
Schneider said that Jansen was showing off the defensive skills he honed with the Blue Jays. Schneider also made several references to Boston’s overall defence.
“You never want to make outs on the bases, but aggressive outs are OK,” Schneider said. “When you’re putting pressure on the other team to make really good plays, we’re good with that. Tonight they made really good plays.”