Blue Jays win in 13 vs. Red Sox after countless blunders by both teams

TORONTO – Lately it’s seemed like every mistake the Toronto Blue Jays make comes back to haunt them.

They certainly made their share of blunders on Saturday, however, so did the Boston Red Sox.

In epic fashion.

With the Red Sox up by one run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Daulton Varsho stepped to the plate against reliever John Schreiber with the tying run on second base. Varsho worked the count to 3-1 then laced a sinker to dead centre field.

That should have been the game.

Ceddanne Rafaela broke in on the ball when he should have gone back, though, and the ball went over his head and to the wall. Cavan Biggio easily scored to tie the game and Varsho hustled into third before letting out a roar while staring into the Blue Jays dugout.

The teams stranded runners over the next several frames and traded runs in the 12^th before Whit Merrifield finally ended the four-hour affair with a swinging-bunt infield single in the 13^th inning that drove in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to give the Blue Jays a walk-off 4-3 victory in front of 42,276 on a beautiful afternoon at Rogers Centre.

“Sometimes it’s better lucky than good,” Merrifield said.

The win brought the Blue Jays into a temporary tie with the Seattle Mariners for the third spot in the wild-card race. Later, Toronto moved a half-game ahead when the Mariners lost 6-2 to the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.

“You need breaks sometimes, especially in games like that. And today we got ’em,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “There's always going to be opportunities and I think it gets magnified in extra innings, really. But a win is a win at this point, so take it and move on to tomorrow.”

Earlier in the contest, Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt and Red Sox counterpart Chris Sale engaged in a pitcher’s duel for the first five innings before Bassitt blinked first. He walked Red Sox leadoff hitter Wilyer Abreu in the sixth inning and then surrendered a two-run, opposite-field homer to Rafael Devers that left the bat at 104.5 m.p.h. and put the Red Sox on the board.

Bassitt allowed just the two runs on four hits over seven innings. He walked three, struck out five and generated 14 whiffs on 110 pitches. With Saturday’s game, the 34-year-old set new single-season career highs in starts (31) and innings (185.2).

Sale, meanwhile, made just one mistake. With the help of an effective slider, the left-hander completely dominated the Blue Jays over the first six innings, allowing just one hit and striking out 10. However, Guerrero Jr. led off the seventh by launching a 2-2 slider from Sale over the left-field wall for a solo homer to cut the deficit by one run and chase Sale from the game.

It was Guerrero Jr.’s third homer in as many days and 24^th on the season.

“I think he's quieter than he's been all year, especially in the lower half [of his body],” Bassitt said of Guerrero Jr. “He's not chasing. I think he's obviously understanding that pitching staffs are afraid of him and they should be. But we are one more hitter away from just unleashing on pitching staffs.”

Added Merrifield: “What Vladdy's done the last couple days is a big, big boost. Hitting is contagious. So, hopefully a spark like that will get somebody else going and we can roll these last 13 games.”

The Blue Jays loaded the bases in the seventh but failed to cash in a runner. In the eighth, they threatened again when Bo Bichette walked with one out and reached third on Guerrero Jr.’s single. Davis Schneider lined a ball to right field and Bichette broke for home instead of tagging up from the third base bag. The mistake appeared costly because by the time he ran back to touch third and then try for a tag, it was too late. It would have been a close play at home, especially with right-fielder Alex Verdugo’s strong arm, but Bichette did represent the tying run. Red Sox reliever Chris Martin struck out the next batter, Santiago Espinal, to end the threat.

Adding to the blunders during the contest were Alejandro Kirk being thrown out at second base trying to stretch his hit into a double and Merrifield getting doubled up on a lineout to second base.

If the Blue Jays lost on Saturday, those missed opportunities would have been in focus, but that’s not the case thanks in part to a bullpen that combined to allow just one run on one hit over six innings. Closer Jordan Romano was especially key, contributing two innings of scoreless relief before Chad Green pitched the 13th.

“I truly think we have the best pitching staff, from the first guy to the last guy, in the big leagues,” said Bassitt. “I don't think it's debatable if it gets to our bullpen. I really like our chances to win the game if it's tied and our bullpen’s involved.

“I know the other team is thinking, ‘We're in trouble.’”

Truth is, the Blue Jays were in trouble several times on Saturday. Nonetheless, they pulled out a needed victory and will now look to sweep the Red Sox on Sunday when Hyun Jin Ryu takes the mound for the home side. Victoria's Nick Pivetta starts for Boston.

“At this point of the year, any win is going to be a big confidence boost,” said Merrifield. “But hopefully it'll be good momentum. Tomorrow's a new day, got to wake up and come to the field. This Boston team, I know they're not in contention at the moment, but they're a good team so we can't take it lightly. Gotta show up and do what we got to do to win.”