Jays square up big AL East series with Sox

Joaquin Benoit gave up a sacrifice fly to Jackie Bradley Jr., then struck out pinch-hitter Travis Shaw struck out.

Blue Jays fans gave Ortiz a standing ovation as he returned to the dugout in the eighth inning, his final regular-season at bat in Toronto.

Happ got his 18th win, Melvin Upton Jr. hit a two-run homer and the Blue Jays stopped a four-game losing streak by beating Boston 3-2 on Saturday.

“There’s still a lot of time left”, said Troy Tulowitzki, who had a grand slam among his three hits Sunday. They are two games out of the division lead after dropping two of three to the Red Sox, and sitting atop a crowded pile of would-be wild cards.

While no player would go into any particular detail about who put it together or what was said during the private session – it’s players-only for a reason, after all – in a pre-game interview with Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae, Jose Bautista said the gathering was used as a chance to “refocus”.

Sanchez allowed six runs and five hits in 3 2/3 innings. A first-inning walk came around to score when Kevin Pillar made the wrong break on a Mookie Betts liner to centre, allowing David Ortiz to trundle all the way around from first base.

The right-hander said he struggled for most of the game with a blister on his middle finger, something that’s bothered him on and off this season. The 24-year-old will be making his first start at Rogers Centre in almost one month, where he owns a 5-1 mark this season. “And he seemed eager to get back down to the clubhouse and find out what was happening back in the game”. The Birds mustered eight hits and walked five times with Jonathan Schoop going solo while Michael Bourne clubbed a two run bomb. “But he’s still our guy”.

Joey Votto had four hits including a home run as the Cincinnati Reds edged past the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 and Bryce Harper’s three-run homer gave the Washington Nationals a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I guess”, said Ortiz with modesty, “I put a good swing on it”. “It’s always a pleasure to come here”. It tied Ortiz with Jimmie Foxx for 18th place on Major League Baseball’s career home run list.

With three RBIs, Ortiz (110) moved past Dave Winfield (108) for the most RBIs in a season by a player 40 years or older. There’s a lot of time, plus, we still play these guys (the Red Sox three more games).

Clay Buchholz lasted just three innings in his start, allowing five runs in a terrible third inning, which was capped off by a grand slam by Troy Tulowitzki.

Xander Bogaerts tied it 6-6 for Boston with a single in the fourth, scoring Bradley and Dustin Pedroia. “Some wins can get you some momentum”. After allowing eight runs in the first four innings, the Sox had six relievers toss scoreless outings to get to their closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning with a three-run lead.

Sure, there was a little mystery strangeness in the bottom of the ninth when a Russell Martin liner down the right-field line was called fair and then overruled from home plate. But it turned out he wasn’t just a bit too low and a bit too short for the homer, but also a bit too far right, as replay confirmed the call of a foul ball after the umpires let the baserunners play things out establish where they would have ended up. Martin later struck out. Wieters notched his second multi-homer game of the season and sixth of his career. Encarnacion has 39 home runs and leads the AL with 115 RBIs.

Boston tied it at 6 and chased Aaron Sanchez on a two-out, two-run single by Bogaerts in the fourth, but Toronto answered with Encarnacion’s second homer in the bottom half.

Hanley Ramirez blasted a ball into The Place Formerly Known as Windows Restaurant in the top of the fifth, though the Jays escaped the inning with the lead when Boston’s Brock Holt for some reason tried to steal home.

All three of Tulowitzki’s career grand slams have come in September.

Hembree allowed two runs, while Ross (3-2) earned the win. The Orioles hand the ball to Wade Miley for the series opening start at Fenway Park. Travis had three hits for the Blue Jays and is 6 for 9 in the first two games of the series. Liriano last started August 26 against Minnesota and has made two relief appearances since.