BOSTON — The Red Sox weren’t going to be denied Friday night.
The Red Sox rallied from three runs down in the eighth inning and from two runs down in the 10th to pull off a dramatic 9-8 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Yoenis Cespedes belted a fly ball into the triangle in the bottom of the 10th to complete the Red Sox’s walk-off.
Cespedes started Boston’s eighth-inning rally with a single into right field. Mookie Betts singled home Cespedes following a double steal, and Xander Bogaerts tied the game with a two-run double into the right-center field gap.
The Blue Jays struck for two runs in the top of the 10th to grab an 8-6 lead. But the Red Sox kept showing fight in the bottom half, loading the bases with no outs on three consecutive singles by Betts, Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez. Vazquez’s knock was the product of a perfectly placed bunt over the head of charging Toronto second baseman Steve Tolleson.
Will Middlebrooks, who entered the game when Brock Holt exited because of an illness, cut Boston’s deficit to one run in the 10th with a single into left field. Dustin Pedroia, playing in his first game since suffering a concussion last weekend, tied the score at 8 with a sacrifice fly to left field that plated Bogaerts.
Cespedes delivered the game-winning blow, demolishing a 3-2 pitch to right-center field to score Jemile Weeks, who pinch ran for Vazquez earlier in the inning. It was one of four hits and two RBIs for Cespedes.
The Red Sox had some moments of sloppiness. But in the end, they reigned supreme because of timely hits and clutch heroics.
