This is the kind of game that would have gotten ugly in a hurry last year.
After cruising through the first four innings, the Red Sox saw things unravel in the top of the fifth, giving up six runs with two outs to flip what had previously been a 3-0 lead into a 6-3 Blue Jays advantage.
We saw how quickly games like that against Toronto could snowball, but it’s apparent this year’s Red Sox club is made of tougher stuff.
Plus, Connor Wong picked a great time to have the game of his life.
The second-year catcher exploded for the best offensive performance of his big league career, going 4 for 4 with two home runs and a double while falling a triple short of the cycle in Boston’s 7-6 win. All four of his hits were scorched, and the two solo home runs tied and then gave Boston the lead after Toronto’s potentially backbreaking rally.
“Definitely an awesome feeling,” Wong said afterwards. “Just trying to go out there and help the team win and luckily I was able to.”
Wong set the tone early by roping a double high off the Green Monster that was clocked at 113.6 mph off the bat and was the hardest hit ball of his career. He followed that with a 105.4 mph single his next time up before twice leaving the yard.
“He’s got pop,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He’s got pop and he’s working hard with (the hitting coaches) to be on time and it’s working.”
Though Wong’s contributions were the loudest, he wasn’t the only Red Sox batter to come through. Christian Arroyo hit his first home run of the season to put Boston on the board, and Rob Refsnyder (two RBI singles) and Masataka Yoshida (solo homer, RBI single) each drove in big runs on consecutive trips to the plate.
Yoshida’s homer made it 3-0 in the fourth and extended his MLB-best hitting streak to 12 games, and up through that point starting pitcher Tanner Houck had been dealing. But then with two outs in the fifth things went awry when he allowed a two-run single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the game-tying run on a passed ball and then a three-run shot to Daulton Varsho.
With the bullpen badly depleted nobody even so much as removed their jackets in the bullpen, and it was on Houck to get out of the inning and pitch as deep as possible. To his credit, Houck came back out and pitched a scoreless sixth, which came after Refsnyder and Yoshida each drove in runs to cut the deficit to 6-5.
After that, it was the Wong show.
Wong’s solo home runs in the sixth and eighth innings knotted up the score and then put Boston ahead, and once the Red Sox had the lead manager Alex Cora put the ball in Josh Winckowski’s hands. Despite having pitched two innings on Monday night, the second-year righty slammed the door, recording his first career save and finishing Toronto off by drawing a double play to end the game.
“So far this year it’s been pretty calm but tonight definitely had a different feel to it,” Winckowski said. “The crowd’s always electric but in the ninth inning it goes to another level.”
The win was Boston’s fourth in a row and its second against a Toronto club it only managed three wins against in 19 tries a year ago. The Red Sox (17-14) will look to clinch the series victory on Wednesday, with Nick Pivetta (1-2, 5.11 ERA) set to take the hill against Toronto’s Alek Manoah (1-1, 4.88). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
Barely three weeks out from fracturing his left wrist on a diving catch attempt in Detroit, Adam Duvall is out of his cast. The Red Sox outfielder underwent his weekly X-ray on Monday and the results were encouraging enough that he was able to switch into a removable splint.
Duvall will still need several weeks to complete the healing process and get back into baseball form, but getting out of the cast marks a significant milestone in his recovery.
The Red Sox also announced Tuesday that right-handed reliever Zack Kelly underwent successful ulnar nerve transposition revision surgery on his right elbow, which was performed by Dr. Jeffrey Dugas at The Andrews Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. The rookie went down on April 12 in Tampa Bay and is expected to miss a significant portion of the season.