The Boston Red Sox sure have played a lot of baseball since the Major League Baseball All-Star break.
But the wait was worth it Tuesday night thanks to Hanley Ramirez’s game-winning solo home run in the bottom of the 15th, which lifted the Sox to a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox improved to 53-42 with the win, while the Blue Jays dropped to 43-50.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Rain.
The game was delayed for an hour before the new start time of 8:10 p.m. ET.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Ramirez hit the game-winning homer.
ON THE BUMP
— Brian Johnson was recalled prior to Tuesday’s game, and he had a pretty solid outing. The left-hander allowed three earned runs on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts in six innings.
Johnson held the Blue Jays scoreless through the first four innings, but Toronto tagged him for three runs in the fifth. Justin Smoak had an RBI double, and Kendrys Morales and Troy Tulowitzki both knocked in a run on base hits.
However, Johnson came back with his best inning in the sixth, pitching a 1-2-3 frame with two strikeouts.
— Matt Barnes came on in the seventh and pitched a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout. He ran into some trouble in the eighth inning with runners on first and third with no outs, but Toronto failed to score thanks to a nifty double play started by Dustin Pedroia.
— Craig Kimbrel pitched in a non-save situation in the ninth. Josh Donaldson reached on a two-out single, but that was Kimbrel’s only blemish.
— Brandon Workman looked pretty good in the 10th.
But he allowed two hits, a sacrifice fly and intentionally walked a batter in a tough 11th inning.
— Hector Velazquez pitched a 1-2-3 12th. He also pitched scoreless innings in the 13th, 14th and 15th frames.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox struck first in the bottom of the fourth inning when Chris Young sent one into the stands for his fifth home run of the season.
— With Boston trailing 3-1 at the time, Pedroia made it a one-run game in the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer of his own. It also was his fifth dinger of the season.
— Pedroia came through in the clutch again in the seventh inning when he made it a 3-3 game with an RBIÂ double off the Green Monster. Brock Holt scored on the play.
— Mookie Betts extended the game in the bottom of the 11th inning with an RBI single, which Jackie Bradley Jr. scored on. But Xander Bogaerts was out at third base on the same play.
— Ramirez sent the remaining Red Sox fans home happy with his 15th home run of the season.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Wally was excited for “Game of Thrones” at Fenway Park.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Blue Jays will play Game 3 of their four-game series Wednesday night. Left-hander Drew Pomeranz is scheduled to start for Boston, while right-hander Aaron Sanchez is expected to toe the rubber for Toronto. First pitch at Fenway Park is set for 7:10 p.m.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports ImagesÂ
