Taylor Houck pitched four solid innings, Jarren Duran settled for a triple on an exciting trip around the bases and the host Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 to salvage a split of their day-night doubleheader Wednesday.
Kevin Plawecki finished with three hits in the Red Sox’s seventh win in their last nine games. Houck struck out seven, allowing one run on two hits and a walk.
Garrett Whitlock (4-1) earned the win with two innings of relief. Matt Barnes closed out the seventh inning for his 23rd save.
Bo Bichette drove in the lone run for the Blue Jays, who won Game 1 by a 4-1 margin.
Duran made his major league debut earlier this month, and it took him only three games to hit a traditional home run. No. 2 just eluded him on a judgment scoring call.
The 24-year-old ripped a liner toward the triangle in center with Plawecki on first and one out in the fourth that George Springer initially bobbled. Duran, known for his speed, took advantage and rounded third, narrowly beating the throw home that ultimately rolled out of the glove of Toronto catcher Reese McGuire.
The play was scored a triple and an error on Springer. Regardless, Duran upped Boston’s advantage to 4-1.
Enrique Hernandez followed with a single, and Rafael Devers doubled to end the night of Blue Jays starter Steven Matz. Patrick Murphy came on and hit Xander Bogaerts to load the bases before getting a popout and a strikeout to escape the jam.
Matz (8-6) gave up four runs on nine hits and one walk. He punched out two.
Devers exited in the sixth with an apparent injury. Toronto’s Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was hit by a pitch in the elbow to begin the seventh and was removed for a pinch-runner.
The Red Sox were on the board in the first when Hernandez doubled on the first pitch and Devers singled him home. A Duran sacrifice fly made it 2-0 in the second.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled to lead off the fourth, and Bichette singled him home to get the Blue Jays within 2-1.
–Field Level Media