Final, Red Sox 7-6: Jose Bautista made things interesting in the 9th, leading off the inning with a solo shot, his seventh home run of the year, to cut Boston’s lead to one.
It was the first run that Uehara has given up since Sept. 17 against the Baltimore Orioles, but it was the only run he would allow in the inning as the Red Sox hung on for a 7-6 win.
Uehara settled down to strike out Juan Francisco before Dioner Navarro roped a single into right center, but with the tying run at first base, Colby Rasmus struck out. Brett Lawrie hit a base hit up the middle to extend the inning, but Edwin Encarnacion flied out to center field with runners on first and second to finally end the threat.
It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t always pretty, but hey, the Red Sox will take it.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 7-5: Sergio Santos worked a 1-2-3 inning.
Jackie Bradley Jr. went down by way of the K, Dustin Pedroia grounded out and Shane Victorino also went down swinging to end the inning.
End 8th, Red Sox 7-5: The Red Sox went through two relief pitchers and gave up two runs to the Blue Jays before putting in Koji Uehara to end the inning.
Junichi Tazawa’s 2013 struggles against Toronto have carried over into this season, as he gave up two more runs to the Blue Jays in the eighth.
Juan Francisco led off with a solo home run.
Dioner Navarro charged one to deep left-center field for a base hit.
Colby Rasmus’s single sent Navarro to second.
Will Middlebrooks snagged Brett Lawrie’s grounder toward third base and whipped it to second for the first out of the inning.
Edwin Encarnacion sent a chopper to shallow left field for a 7-5 game.
Chris Capuano took over the mound and struck out Jonathan Diaz, but John Farrell made the change to Uehara when Capuano walked Jose Reyes.
The bases were loaded when Uehara entered the game, but Melky Cabrera flied out to end a rough inning for the Red Sox.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 7-3: Steve Delabar pitched a 1-2-3 inning for the Blue Jays.
End 7th, Red Sox 7-3: Clay Buchholz has not given up any runs for six innings.
Ryan Goins grounded up the middle for a single and advanced to second off Jose Reyes’ base hit.
Melky Cabrera charged one to the right side and was thrown out at first.
Jose Bautista flied to shallow left, but Grady Sizemore hustled to make the catch.
Steve Delabar will take the mound for the Blue Jays in the top of the eighth.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 7-3: Left-hander Brett Cecil maintained the persistence of the Blue Jays’ relief pitchers with two strikeouts.
Shane Victorino led off with a strikeout swinging.
Cecil walked David Ortiz.
Mike Carp flied out to right-center field, and Grady Sizemore struck out swinging. It was a painless seventh inning for Toronto.
End 6th, Red Sox 7-3: Clay Buchholz’s pitching grows stronger as the game progresses, working yet another 1-2-3 inning.
Colby Rasmus grounded to right and was thrown out at first.
Will Middlebrooks had a fast reaction to Brett Lawrie’s line drive toward third base, laying out an amazing grab and throwing to first for the second out.
Jackie Bradley Jr. handled Moises Sierra’s fly toward center for the third out.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 7-3: Left-hander Aaron Loup took the mound for the Blue Jays and faced only three batters before heading into the bottom half.
Jonathan Herrera, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Dustin Pedroia did not strike out but were retired in order thanks to excellent efforts from the Blue Jays’ infield.
End 5th, Red Sox 7-3: Jose Bautista made some noise in the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to add more runs to the Blue Jays’ side of the scoreboard.
Melky Cabera grounded toward second. Dustin Pedroia quickly tossed it to first for the out.
Jose Bautista hit an off-the-wall double and was just barely safe at second.
Juan Francisco was retired, and Dioner Navarro struck out looking. The Blue Jays have left a man on base for the second consecutive inning.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 7-3: Mike Carp and Grady Sizemore teamed up to extend the Red Sox to a four-run lead.
David Ortiz led off with a strikeout looking, but Carp quickly redeemed the Sox by slamming his third double of the season over the scoreboard in left-center field.
Grady Sizemore’s powerful chopper to left-center field brought Carp home for a 7-3 game.
A.J. Pierzynski and Will Middlebrooks went down, but the Sox are clearly starting to feel comfortable in Toronto’s pitching territory.
End 4th, Red Sox 6-3: The Blue Jays’ batting order cannot seem to regain momentum, leaving a man at first in another scoreless inning.
Brett Lawrie delivered a chopper to left-center field for a leadoff single.
Moises Sierra flied out to Shane Victorino in right field.
Ryan Goins grounded down the middle. Jonathan Herrera handled Lawrie’s out at second but was unable to throw the ball to first before Goins tagged the first base bag.
Jose Reyes knocked one to left field, but Grady Sizemore made the seamless catch to end the fourth.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 6-3: Chad Jenkins enjoyed a 1-2-3 inning.
Jackie Bradley Jr. marked a quick first out.
Dustin Pedroia lined to left field for his first hit of the game, but was called out after a failed attempt to steal second.
Shane Victorino was out at first, but the Red Sox still hold a three-run lead over the Blue Jays heading into the bottom half of the fourth.
End 3rd, Red Sox 6-3: Clay Buchholz walked two more but didn’t give up any more runs in the third.
Melky Cabrera struck out swinging. Shane Victorino received Jose Bautista’s offering to deep right-center field for the second out.
Buchholz walked Dioner Navarro and Juan Francisco. Dioner Navarro sent one to center, but Jackie Bradley Jr. ran in time to grab it and head into the fourth inning.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 6-3: A.J. Pierzynski and Will Middlebrooks made a lot of noise for the Red Sox, and Brandon Morrow was taken out of the game before the third inning was over.
Jackie Bradley Jr. marked Morrow’s first and only strikeout of Saturday’s game.
Morrow issued walks to Shane Victorino, David Ortiz and Mike Carp before walking Grady Sizemore to bring in the Sox’s first run. Manager John Gibbons escorted Morrow off the field after just 2 2/3 innings of play.
Relief pitcher Chad Jenkins proved to be equally as unsuccessful, though, as A.J. Pierzynski hit a grand slam to put the Red Sox ahead of the Blue Jays 5-3.
Will Middlebrooks went back-to-back with Pierzynski as he launched a solo home run to deep left-center field.
Jonathan Herrera grounded out, but the Red Sox put themselves on the board in a big way in the third.
End 2nd, Blue Jays 3-0: Clay Buchholz got a 1-2-3 inning thanks to a challenge by manager John Farrell.
Moises Sierra sent one through the air to center, but Jackie Bradley Jr. was there for the catch.
Ryan Goins hit Buchholz’s changeup right back to him for the second out.
Jose Reyes grounded to shortstop. The umpires called him safe, but John Farrell quickly challenged their call and won, ending the second inning.
Mid 2nd, Blue Jays 3-0: Although Brandon Morrow has not yet recorded a strikeout, the Red Sox are still not on the board.
Morrow walked Grady Sizemore and A.J. Pierzynski to start the top of the second.
Will Middlebrooks came within a few feet of hitting a three-run homer, but Moises Sierra jumped and caught his offering.
Jonathan Herrera grounded out. It’s another scoreless inning for the Red Sox.
End 1st, Blue Jays 3-0: Clay Buchholz faced seven batters and gave up three runs in a painfully long first inning attempt.
Buchholz opened by walking Jose Reyes. Melky Cabrera drilled a ground ball to the left side that landed him at first base and pushed Reyes to third.
Jose Bautista continued the hitting streak with a deep slam to left-center field. Reyes scored easily, and Cabrera advanced to third.
Buchholz’s pitch to first baseman Juan Francisco got away from A.J. Pierzynski, which caused Cabrera to bring home the Blue Jays’ second run.
Shane Victorino couldn’t sprint fast enough to snag Dioner Navarro’s deep hit to center field, which allowed Bautista to score the Blue Jays’ third run of the game.
Colby Rasmus and Brett Lawrie fly out to end the inning, but the Blue Jays have done some significant damage in the first.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Brandon Morrow struggled to throw strikes in the first.
Morrow issued a leadoff walk to Dustin Pedroia. Shane Victorino followed up with a pop up along the first base line, but second baseman Ryan Goins was able to make the catch in foul ground.
Morrow failed to throw a single strike to David Ortiz, which marked Morrow’s second walk of the game.
Mike Carp grounded up toward center field, but Goins and first baseman Juan Francisco teamed up for a successful double play heading into the bottom half.
1:07 p.m.: Brandon Morrow throws a first-pitch ball to Dustin Pedroia, and we’re underway at Rogers Centre.
12:26 p.m. ET: The Boston Red Sox have already moved forward from their upsetting 1-2 series against the New York Yankees with an 8-1 win against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night. The Sox will play their second game against the Blue Jays on Saturday and hope right-hander Clay Buchholz can maintain their momentum.
Clay Buchholz is 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA so far this season, but he holds a 2.44 ERA with nine wins in 18 career appearances against the Blue Jays. He will face Blue Jays’ right-hander Brandon Morrow, who has a less impressive 1-3 record against Boston.
Xander Bogaerts is out for his second game of the season. Utilityman Jonathan Herrera will bat eighth and play shortstop in his place.
Mike Carp returns to the lineup for the first time since his major league pitching debut against the Yankees on Thursday night. He will bat cleanup and play first base.
Saturday’s complete lineups are below.
Boston Red Sox (11-13)
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Shane Victorino, RF
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Carp, 1B
Grady Sizemore, LF
A.J. Pierzynski, C
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Jonathan Herrera, SS
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Clay Buchholz, RHP (0-2, 7.71 ERA)
Toronto Blue Jays (11-12)
Jose Reyes, SS
Melky Cabrera, LF
Jose Bautista, DH
Juan Francisco, 1B
Dioner Navarro, C
Colby Rasmus, CF
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Moises Sierra, RF
Ryan Goins, 2B
Brandon Morrow, RHP (1-2, 5.03 ERA)
The first pitch will be delivered at 1:07 p.m. at Rogers Centre, so be sure to tune in on NESN or keep up with our live blog at NESN.com.
