Final, Toronto 7-1: Toronto has exceptional pitching and a strong offensive showing from Brett Lawrie to thank for this win. R.A. Dickey entered today’s game with 18 walks, but did not give away a single free pass today, as he earned the win.
An early home run and late double by Lawrie opened the floodgates for the Blue Jays, who tacked on four runs in the last two innings. Red Sox have Monday off before they face the Tampa Bay Rays at home on Tuesday.
3:37 p.m.: Top 9th. Pitching change. Esmil Rogers step in for Toronto. Middlebrooks strikes out to make the first out of the inning. Jonny Gomes strikes out for the second out. Rogers retires Xander Bogaerts to send the Red Sox back to Boston having lost this last game of the three-game series, 7-1.
3:29 p.m.: Pitching change. Burke Badenhop is now on the mound for the Red Sox. Jose Bautista drops in on an error by Xander Bogaerts at shortstop. Reyes scores and Cabrera moves to second. Cabrera and Bautista score on an off-the-wall double to Edwin Encarnacion. Blue Jays now lead 7-1 in the bottom of the eighth.
3:24 p.m.: Bottom 8th. Pitching change. Andrew Miller steps in to replace Jon Lester. Reyes’ speed beats a a throw by Pedroia at first. Reyes take third on a single to right field by Melkey Cabrera. One out.
3:16 p.m.: Blue Jays pitchers Brett Cecil and Sergio Santos are warming up in the Toronto bullpen. Grady Sizemore is out with a flyball caught by Jose Bautista. Napoli lines out to centerfield sending A.J. Pierzynski to the plate with two outs.
3:10 p.m.: Jose Bautista moves to right field and Cody Rasmus takes center field. Pedroia gets on base with a single to right field.
3:07 p.m.: Lester strikes out Josh Thole to end the inning.
3:04 p.m.: Lester snags a drive from Sierra up the center and throws to first. Lawrie scores and gives the Blue Jays a 4-1 lead with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
3:02 p.m.: A sacrifice fly by Juan Francisco to Jackie Bradley Jr. gives Lawrie time to move to third with one out. Moises Sierra now up to bat.
2:59 p.m.: Edwin Encarnacion doubles to left with a full count. Lawrie lines down the left field line moving the Blue Jays to a 3-1 lead. Pitch count for Lester is now at 104.
2:53 p.m.: Ross strands Middlebrooks and Bogaerts with a flyball just short of the wall.
2:47 p.m.: Toronto wastes no time with a pitching change facing a crucial play for the Red Sox. R.A. Dickey leaves the game in the top of the seventh after a stellar pitching performance. Steve Delabar takes the mound, forcing Jackie Bradley Jr. to pop out to third for the second out.
2:46 p.m.: Top 7th. Bogaerts gets hold of a fastball and sends a double to deep left moving Middlebrooks into scoring position at third. One out.
2:40 p.m.: After struggling through the count, Middlebrooks takes first. He ends R.A. Dickey’s streak of retiring the last 10 batters.
2:39 p.m.: John Farrell said batters with longer swings have more success with knuckleballs because the bat stays in the zone a bit longer.
2:35 p.m.: Lester has given up three hits this game. Lester quickly retires Reyes, Cabrera and Bautista to end the inning.
2:32 p.m.: A.J. Pierzynski breaks the bat on a line drive to shortstop where Reyes throws him out at first. 2-1 Blue Jays.
2:29 p.m.: Sizemore leads off the sixth inning having struck out twice today. Sizemore is thrown out at first to make the first out. Dickey’s knuckleball is proving to be a challenge for Red Sox batting today as the Blue Jays pitcher has now retired 12 of the past 13 batters. Melkey Cabrera fights off Bautista and Sierra to send Napoli to the dugout. Two outs.
2:19 p.m.: Quick at-bats for the Sox as Dickey puts away Jackie Bradley Jr., Ross and Pedroia. Not much time off the mound for either pitcher this game.
2:15 p.m.: Top 5th. Fans attending today’s game in Toronto were treated to R.A. Dickey bobbleheads. The knuckleball pitcher has six strikeouts today, retiring the last six batters.
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2:12 p.m.: Bottom 4th. Another nice play by Jackie Bradley Jr. who snags a line drive from Encarnacion. Lester retires Brett Lawrie for the second out. Francisco pops out to Middlebrooks to end the inning.
2:07 p.m.: Jonny Gomes fouls out to Melkey Cabrera after Middlebrooks pops out to center-left field. R.A. Dickey retires Bogaerts for the third out.
2:02 p.m.: Jose Bautista hits a flies out to centerfield to end the inning. Blue Jays lead 2-1 heading into the fourth.
2:00 p.m.: Josh Thole sneaks a lead-off single past Middlebrooks to start the Blue Jays’ at bat. Lester throws Diaz out at first after a sacrifice bunt moves Thole to second with one out. Toronto returns to the top of the lineup with Jose Reyes who strikes out swinging. Melkey Cabrera pulls a double down the third base line allowing Thole the go-ahead run.
1:51 p.m.: Back-to-back strikeouts for R.A. Dickey who retires Pedroia and Sizemore at the top of the third. Napoli lines the ball into centerfield for a two-out base hit. A.J. Pierzynski strikes out swinging to make the third out.
1:43 p.m.: Lester retires Juan Francisco. Moises Sierra gets on top of a pitch and fouls a ball off the inner ankle of his left foot. Sierra applies a cast to his foot before he continues batting. Sierra strikes out to end the inning.
1:38 p.m.: JBJ runs and then pedals back to make an impressive catch, once again proving himself competent in center field. Bradley’s catch retires Edwin Encarnacion. Brett Lawrie homers off a high fastball to right field. Game is now tied 1-1.
1:29 p.m.: Xander Bogaerts launches a line drive, moving Jonny Gomes to scoring position. Jackie Bradley Jr. drops into shallow center allowing Gomes to score. Ross hits into a double play for the third out. Red Sox lead 1-0.
1:25 p.m.: A.J. Pierzynski is batting cleanup today, replacing David Ortiz as designated hitter. Pierzynski pops out to Jonathan Diaz and Will Middlebrooks is retired on a caught foul ball. Gomes becomes the first base runner of the day with a single to left field.
1:20 p.m.: Lester is 15-7 in his 28 career starts against Toronto. Reyes pops out to right field. Lester strikes out Melky Cabrera. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons takes the field after Jose Bautista fouls to deep right but does not challenge the call. Bautista pops out to shallow right to end the inning.
1:12 p.m.: Pedroia is thrown out at first to star the game and R.A. Dickey gets his first two K’s in Grady Sizemore and Mike Napoli.
12:46 p.m.: Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester takes the mound at 1:07 at Rogers Centre today, hoping to help Boston sweep their three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Sox lead the Blue Jays 2-0 after A.J. Pierzynski’s grand slam pushed Boston to a 7-6 win on Saturday. R.A. Dickey will be pitching today for the Blue Jays. Shane Victorino and David Ortiz will get the day off today.
Check here for live scores and updates throughout the game.
Boston Red Sox (12-13)
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Grady Sizemore, LF
Mike Napoli, 1B
A.J. Pierzynski, C
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Jonny Gomes, RF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
David Ross, C
Jon Lester, P
Toronto Blue Jays (11-13)
Jose Reyes, SS
Melkey Cabrera, LF
Jose Bautista, CF
Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Juan Francisco, DH
Moises Sierra, RF
Josh Thole, C
Jonathan Diaz, 2B
R.A. Dickey, P
