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The season-long problem of unreliable late-inning relief reared its ugly head
again on Thursday night—but the resilient Red Sox overcame that weakness
again in
a 4-3 win over the Blue Jays. The victory gave Boston 101 wins—five away from setting a new franchise record for wins in a season.
The Magic Number to clinch the AL East is down to just six—with the lead in the division moving up to 10.5 games.
Eduardo Rodriguez pitched well—going six solid innings and giving up just one earned run. However, both
Bobby Poyner and
Joe Kelly coughed up single runs in relief. Boston got solo home runs from
Rafael Devers (#17) and
J.D. Martinez (his MLB-tying 41st). But, the game-winning run was scored in the eighth inning on a Little League-worthy error by Toronto. Both Martinez and
Xander Bogaerts (now hitting .291) had two hits apiece for Boston. The Red Sox will look to claim win #102 tonight against
Noah Syndergaard and the New York Metropolitans.
