Red Sox Wrap: Tyler O’Neill Stays Hot, Boston Defeats Blue Jays

The Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3, at Rogers Centre on Tuesday night.

With the victory, the Red Sox improved to 39-35 while the Blue Jays fell to 35-38.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston and Toronto underwent a division rival pitching duel, keeping each other’s lineups at bay throughout the night following a home run-filled series-opener just 24 hours prior.

Tyler O’Neill, once again, went deep, belting his third round-tripper of the series to even up the contest at 3-3 in the eighth inning. It was especially uplifting since Boston had runners at the corners in the previous inning with nobody out and squandered a golden opportunity. They followed that potential rally with a flyout and back-to-back strikeouts, bailing out the Blue Jays from a dicey situation.

After a long, patient effort in tallying runs, the Red Sox found luck on the momentum sparked by O’Neill’s solo blast and grabbed a lead over Toronto in the eighth inning when Ceddanne Rafaela, who 3-for-4, singled home David Hamilton.

That left things up to Boston’s bullpen and Zack Kelly, Brennan Bernardino, Justin Slaten, and Kenley Jansen combined to toss the final 3 1/3 innings while keeping the Blue Jays from scoring and guiding Boston to its fourth consecutive win.

STARS OF THE GAME
— O’Neill went 2-for-4 at the plate, delivering the loudest swing produced by Boston’s lineup which only produced one RBI, but began the game-deciding rally to help prevent the Red Sox from landing in the loss column.

— Kelly provided 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing zero Toronto hits while recording one strikeout to help keep the Red Sox within striking distance.

— Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement finished 1-for-4 in the batter’s box, responsible for driving in two RBIs for Toronto.

ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox and Blue Jays will wrap up their three-game series on Wednesday night. First pitch from Rogers Centre is set for 7:07 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus a full hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.