Red Sox Notes: Walker Buehler Got ‘Violent,’ Set Tone In Walk-Off Win

All the pressure was on Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Walker Buehler when he took the mound in Thursday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

It wasn’t lost on Buehler that his first two starts in a Red Sox uniform were subpar, or that the Red Sox desperately needed a win to avoid a sweep, or that he needed to step up with Boston’s offense scuffling.

“This week was a big one for me, just in terms of workload because I’m trying to figure it out and I’m kind of tired of sucking,” Buehler told reporters, per NESN. “I kind of pushed my chips a little bit more on the table this week than I typically have.”

Buehler certainly was rewarded for his preparation as he set the tone for the Red Sox in a 4-3 walk-off win in 10 innings over the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

The veteran right-hander had his best performance by far in a Red Sox uniform by tossing 6 1/3 innings, scattering four hits, striking out seven and walking one. He retired 14 of 15 batters entering the seventh inning, but issued a walk to begin that frame and got a fly out before coming out. He threw 62 of his 89 pitches for strikes.

“The changeup was a factor, velocity was good, command was great and he was aggressive,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, per NESN. “Obviously the first inning they got a few hits here and there, but I think from there on he found his groove. The changeup was really good.”

Buehler felt like he picked up his tempo in his delivery to get the desired results. And it led to him attacking hitters instead of being attacked like in his first two outings.

“I think largely pre-surgery and non-playoffs — regular-season games — I think this is as good as I felt,” Buehler said. “We put in a ton of work this week with everyone in the building about what we’re seeing, what we’re feeling and it paid off this week, and now it’s kind of rinse and repeat and hope it kind of stays in there.

“I just felt more violent than I have in a long time. That’s how I play when I’m good.”

Here are more notes from Thursday’s Red Sox-Blue Jays game:

— Trevor Story capped off his strong performance by driving in the game-winning run with a fielder’s choice to second base to score David Hamilton. Story went 2-for-5 with one RBI and two stolen bases in the win.

“Put the ball in play. Me and (bench coach) Ramón (Vázquez), we were talking about it,” Cora said of the end-of-game sequence in which Andres Gimenez didn’t cleanly field Story’s squibber. “Hit it off the end. They might miss it or whatever. You put it in play something can happen. It’s not a strikeout, right? He did a good job fouling off pitches and we ended up wining the game.”

— The Red Sox showed improved defense on the road against the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles to start the season, but it didn’t last when they returned to Fenway Park. Boston committed two more errors Thursday and totaled 11 errors over their six-game homestand. The Red Sox lead MLB with 14 errors.

— George Springer is a legitimate Red Sox killer and he continued to wear them out over the course of the series. Springer finished the four-game set 7-for-13 with one home run and five RBIs.

— Strikeouts continue to be a problem for a Red Sox offense, which produced just eight runs in the series and broke a 15-inning scoreless streak on an RBI single from Alex Bregman in the bottom of the sixth. They struck out 11 times in the extra-inning win and have racked up double-digit strikeouts in each of the last three games.

— The Red Sox will hit the road and take on the Chicago White Sox, who reportedly called up a former Boston prospect Thursday, in a three-game series beginning Friday. The Red Sox hand the ball to Sean Newcomb for the series opener while Davis Martin will get the start on the mound for the White Sox. First pitch from Rate Field is set for 7:40 p.m. ET, and you catch complete coverage on NESN.