Luke Maile played hero for the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
The catcher had two home runs on the night, a game-tying dinger in the seventh inning and a two-run walk-off shot in the 12th to give the Jays the 5-3 victory at Rogers Centre.
Starter Chris Sale was dominant for Boston, tallying 15 strikeouts, but lacked run support.
After shaking off the rust through two innings, the lefty was absolutely dominant, tallying those K’s through nine innings of work. The ace didn’t issue a walk while throwing 116 pitches.Â
With the loss, the Sox slip to 26-12, while the Blue Jays climb to 21-18.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Disappointing.
Sale’s outing would leave him with a no-decision, despite having season-highs in strikeouts and swings-and-misses with 24.
ON THE BUMP
— Sale gave up a run in each of the first two innings and was a bit shaky, making his first error since 2015 on a throw to first base.
He was able to get out of a jam in the second with two on and two out by striking out Josh Donaldson to prevent any further damage.
The lefty seemed to settle down after the second, throwing four consecutive 1-2-3 innings, including striking out the side in order in the fourth and fifth.
But Sale’s streak of consecutive 1-2-3 innings would expire in the seventh when he would surrender a solo home run to Maile to tie the game at three.
— Matt Barnes came in for the 10th inning and gave up back-to-back walks to begin the frame, but was able to escape any damage.
— Carson Smith made his way to the hill for the 11th, ending the inning on a strikeout with a runner in scoring position.
— Brian Johnson followed Smith in the 12th inning. After allowing a leadoff walk, he gave up the walk-off blast to Maile.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox got on the board in the first after Betts led the inning off with a walk, followed by an Andrew Benintendi. J.D. Martinez would plate Betts from third with a fielder’s choice for Boston to go up 1-0.
— Down by one in the fourth, Xander Bogaerts homered to straightaway center to knot the game at two. The homer marked the fourth of the season for the shortstop.
— Boston reclaimed the lead later in the inning on a bizarre play at the plate. After Holt reached first on a fielder’s choice, Sandy Leon struck out swinging for the second out of the inning.
However, the strike went past Maile and he momentarily lost the ball before attempting to throw Leon out at first. The throw got away and not only did Leon reached third base on a throwing error, but drove in Holt in the process for the 3-2 lead.
— Betts, Hanley Ramirez, Leon and pinch-hitters Rafael Devers and Christian Vazquez all went hitless.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Evergreen tweet.
UP NEXT
Boston and Toronto continue the three-game set Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre. David Price will take the hill after missing his previous start and will oppose Marco Estrada. First pitch is slated for 4:07 p.m.
