Tyler O’Neill hit two of the Red Sox’s four solo home runs and starting pitcher Nick Pivetta was effective for seven innings on the mound. As a result, they prevented the Blue Jays from returning to the .500 threshold.
“I wanted to get in front of the home crowd, I guess you could say,” O’Neill said.
“While walking today, I noticed a lot of maple leaves, and it’s nice to see. I made sure to stop at Tim Hortons this morning,” he added.
Rafael Devers and Ceddanne Rafaela also hit long balls against starter Yusei Kikuchi, who only pitched four innings.
“Obviously there were some throws that didn’t go where I wanted them to,” Kikuchi admitted, with the help of an interpreter. “But I think they had a good approach (at bat) as well.”
The Red Sox outshot the Blue Jays 11-10 in the first of a three-game series between the two American League East rivals.
In the loss, Justin Turner, in the sixth inning, and Davis Schneider, in the seventh, hit solo home runs for the Blue Jays.
Pivetta (4-4), who is from Victoria, British Columbia, gave up three earned runs, nine hits and one walk. He also had four strikeouts.
“We had the right guy on the mound for the game tonight because of who he is and his toughness,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
O’Neill, who grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia, and Devers share the Red Sox lead with 14 homers this season.
“They made good swings on pitches that were more in the center (of the plate),” analyzed Blue Jays manager John Schneider.
The Red Sox (38-35) have won six of their last eight outings. Following this setback, the Blue Jays have a 35-37 record.
Kikuchi (4-6) struck out the first two batters he faced before falling victim to back-to-back homers from O’Neill and Devers.
The Blue Jays cut the Red Sox lead in half in the second inning. Turner took a free pass and George Springer followed with a weak ball that fell to the ground in right infield.
Turner was able to get to third base before crossing home plate on a sacrifice fly from Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Rafaela led off the third inning with her eighth homer of the season and O’Neill added his 14th of 2024 later in the third.
“It’s always nice to come home and breathe that northern air, to be here for a while,” O’Neill noted.
The Blue Jays starting pitcher allowed five earned runs and seven hits in four innings. He collected seven strikeouts.
2024-06-18 03:25:42
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