The Red Sox are out for a series win Saturday afternoon as they take on Kyle Drabek and the Blue Jays in Toronto.
We'll keep you up-to-date on all the action as it goes down in Rogers Center.
Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 4, Final -- Alfredo Aceves closes out the ninth 1-2-3, taking a series win and moving to fourth place in the division.
Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 4, Mid 9th -- Nick Punto hit a home run. The sheer improbability of such an event means that the MLB will have to rule that this game never in fact happened, and any resulting Sox win will be null and void.
Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 4, End 8th -- Some interesting bullpen management, as Bobby Valentine keeps Albers out to give up a single, turns to one of the team's best relievers in Andrew Miller, and then removes him after he records one out on one pitch.
It doesn't end up being that bit of...creativity that costs the Sox a run, since Vicente Padilla has proven capable in his own right, but rather an embarrassing error from Ryan Sweeney, who seems to have a complete brain meltdown after a single, double pumping and then throwing the ball about 10 feet away from him, forcing the right fielder to chase it down all the way behind second base and allowing the inherited runner to score. That's the first one to do so with Padilla on the mound--he'd been perfect cleaning up the messes of others until now.
Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 3, Mid 8th -- The Sox pick up a helpful insurance run in the 8th as a single and two walks load the bases with one out, allowing the run to come across on Ryan Sweeney's groundout.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3, End 7th -- Felix Doubront's night is done after a strikeout of Kelly Johnson gives him the first out of the seventh. Matt Albers comes in and puts a fright into Sox fans by giving up one of the loudest fly balls you'll ever see not leave the park to Jose Bautista, but with it dying just short of the wall Daniel Nava was able to make the grab and end the inning.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3, Mid 7th -- A two-out rally by the Red Sox goes wanting, as Jason Frasor replaces Kyle Drabek and strikes out Mike Aviles with men on second and third to end the inning. It doesn't quite feel like it because of the fast start for Boston and sort of nickle-and-dime scoring by the Jays, but Toronto is still very much in this game with nine outs in their pocket to work with.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3, End 6th -- Felix Doubront puts the Blue Jays away in short order, picking up his sixth strikeout and ending the inning with his eighth pitch of the frame.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3, Mid 6th -- Kyle Drabek, unlike his Red Sox counterpart, has been pitching worse, arguably, than the results show. Everything seems to be on a line against him, but he's got fielders running down balls at the track or making great snags in the infield. Kevin Youkilis is the latest victim of such an event, as he lines out to Yunel Escobar to end the sixth.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3, End 5th -- The Blue Jays inch inexorably closer as Jose Bautista does what he does and hooks a corner-painting outside fastball into and out of left field for the solo shot. Doubront has been pitching pretty well for the most part, but the results haven't been terribly clean thus far.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 2, Mid 5th -- An awful lot of contact is made by the Red Sox, who hit a pair of sharp fly balls back towards the track, and another fliner to center, but none of them find ground, leaving Drabek the owner of another 1-2-3 inning.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 2, End 4th -- A tough luck inning for Felix Doubront gives the Jays back their run. A two-out ground ball back to the third-base side of the mound could have been an out for Mike Aviles, but Felix Doubront went chasing it and knocked it to the ground, resulting in a base runner. An unexpected bunt from Jeff Mathis gave the Jays another, before a blooper from Kelly Johnson to left scored the run.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 1, Mid 4th -- A hot start for the Sox does not, perhaps, result in the level of production they were hoping for, as Kevin Youkilis leads off with a double that turns into three bases on an errant throw from Jose Bautista and Ryan Sweeney walks to put runners on the corners with nobody out. The Sox do bring the run in, but it's on a Will Middlebrooks double play, leaving the bases empty afterwards.
Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 1, End 3rd -- Felix Doubront manages to limit the damage from what seemed to be gearing up to be a disaster inning in the third. Somehow Jeff Mathis of all people manages to hit a fastball outside and not even over the plate on the screws, sending a solo home run to right. A pair of line drives follow, leaving two men on and two out, and an error by Mike Aviles at short not only leaves the bases loaded, but have the Sox concerned for the health of his throwing hand. Doubront manages to escape the jam, however, inducing a pop-up from Colby Rasmus to end the inning.
Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 0, Mid 3rd -- Kyle Drabek rebounds in the third, pitching a 1-2-3 inning against the heart of the Boston lineup, striking out Jarrod Saltalamacchia to end the frame.
Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 0, End 2nd -- Felix Doubront suffers the repercussions of all these 3-ball counts as he offers up a leadoff walk to start the second, but he bounces back by striking out Colby Rasmus before getting a pair of fly balls, which Adrian Gonzalez handles with ease in right field.
Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 0, Mid 2nd -- A start like this makes you think this one is Boston's to lose. While Kyle Drabek is able to retire both David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis on strikeouts around a walk of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the Sox go to work with two outs and put up a big inning. Ryan Sweeney keeps the team alive by singling to right, bringing Will Middlebrooks to the plate, who smacks a base hit over Jose Bautista's head to plate Salty from third.
Two miracles then serve to quadruple the lead: first, Nick Punto actually manages not just to reach base, but to lace a double down the right field line to bring in another run. Daniel Nava also manages to make hard contact, but seems to have hit into an out at Colby Rasmus moves to make the catch, only to have the ball drop just in front of his glove and onto his shoe. The should-be-error is scored a hit, but more importantly, between Punto and Nava's hits, three runs come in to score.
Red Sox 0, Blue Jays 0, End 1st -- Felix Doubront returns the 1-2-3 favor in a unique manner. Despite falling behind 3-0 to Kelly Johnson, Doubront manages to battle back and strike out the second baseman when he dials up his fastball an extra few MPH to 93. Another 3-0 count somehow results in another out, as Escobar zips a ground ball back up the middle but right into Doubront's outstretched glove for something of a stylish assist. Will Middlebrooks finished the inning off with a good play of his own, grabbing a sharp ground ball down the third base line and making a strong throw to first to end the inning.
Red Sox 0, Blue Jays 0, Mid 1st -- Yunel Escobar saves Kyle Drabek's 1-2-3 inning by making a tremendous ranging play to his left to grab a ground ball seemingly destined for the outfield, spinning and firing to first to get Mike Aviles by the slimmest of margins. With the ground out surrounded by fly outs from Daniel Nava and Adrian Gonzalez, the Sox do not so much as threaten in the first.