TORONTO – Lately it’s seemed like every mistake the Toronto Blue Jays make comes back to haunt them. On Saturday, though, the club experienced a reversal of fortune.
With two outs and the tying run on second base in the bottom of the ninth inning, Daulton Varsho laced a fly ball to centre-field off Boston Red Sox reliever John Schreiber.
That should have been the game. However, Ceddanne Rafaela broke in on the ball when he should have gone back and the ball went over his head and to the wall. Cavan Biggio easily scored the tying run and Varsho hustled into third before letting out a roar while staring into the Blue Jays dugout.
The teams traded runs in the 12th inning but in the bottom half of the 13th, Whit Merrifield hit a game-winning infield single to lift the Blue Jays to a walk-off 4-3 victory in front of a rocking 42,276 on a beautiful afternoon at Rogers Centre.
The win brought the Blue Jays into a temporary tie with the Seattle Mariners for the third spot in the wild-card race. Seattle will host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.
Earlier in the contest, Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt and Red Sox counterpart Chris Sale traded zeros 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 his 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, Vladimir 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 24th on the season.
The Blue Jays managed to load the bases later in the inning against Red Sox reliever Josh Winckowski, but pinch-hitter Ernie Clement ended the frame by popping out to second against left-hander Brennan Bernardino.
In the eighth, the Blue Jays 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 as 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.
If the Blue Jays lost on Saturday, those missed opportunities would have been in focus, but that’s not case thanks in part to Rafaela’s blunder and Merrifield’s heroics.
