The Red Sox and Blue Jays are set to get underway in the first game of their three-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays.
We'll keep you up-to-date on all the action as it goes down in Fenway Park.
Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 6, Mid 9th -- Mortensen sits down three more on ground balls in rapid fashion. The Sox are down to their last three outs.
Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 6, End 8th -- The Blue Jays turn to elder statesman Darren Oliver to record three outs, and are frankly lucky to escape with just the one run. A middle-middle fastball to David Ortiz provides him with the perfect opportunity for his second home run of the night on a bomb to dead center. While Jarrod Saltalamacchia goes down swinging behind him, Adrian Gonzalez gets some great contact and hits a fliner that unfortunately heads directly for Rajai Davis in left field. Will Middlebrooks tries to get the rally going again with a majestic fly ball that's gone in just about any park, but in Fenway is just a double high off the wall. With Cody Ross unable to cash in behind him, the Sox head to the ninth down three.
Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 5, Mid 8th -- Adam Lind gives a first-pitch fastball a long ride out to center field, but it dies on the track in the triangle, and Mortensen comes back with off-speed stuff to strike out J.P. Arencibia and induce a ground ball from Brett Lawrie to end the frame.
Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 5, End 7th -- The equivalent of a leadoff double is wasted, as Ryan Kalish singles and then steals second before Nick Punto pops out and Daniel Nava hits a hard grounder that Edwin Encarnacion makes a diving play on both for the out, and to keep Kalish from rounding third. Dustin Pedroia puts the bat on the ball, hitting a solid line drive to right field, but it stays in the air just long enough for Jose Bautista to make the running grab and rob the Sox of a run.
Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 5, Mid 7th -- The game is finally back on after a very lengthy rain delay, with Clayton Mortensen taking over for Matt Albers and inducing a quick ground ball to end the inning.
Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 5, Top 7th -- And with two outs and two in thanks to a Jose Bautista homer off of Matt Albers, we're in a rain delay sure to prolong the suffering.
Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 5, End 6th -- This time the Sox don't respond with any great haste, as Gonazlez, Middlebrooks, and Ross go 1-2-3. Henderson Alvarez is out of the game after wincing in pain following a delivery, but that may not be a good thing for the Sox.
Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 5, Mid 6th -- It looked like Doubront was on a roll, but all-of-a-sudden things just fell apart in the sixth on a pair of changeups. The first thigh-high on the outside corner to Ben Francisco, gets planted off the wall in dead center over a leaping Ryan Kalish for a double. The second, down in the zone but over the plate to J.P. Arencibia is hooked for a majestic homer over the Monster that puts the Jays back up by two.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 5, End 5th -- The heart of the Red Sox' order goes 1-2-3, as Henderson Alvarez finally seems to be finding some footing. Unfortunately for him, it comes with 93 pitches on his arm, meaning he is not long for this game.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 5, Mid 5th -- Felix Doubront offers up his first walk, but also records his first strikeout in the fifth, which Dustin Pedroia ends by reaching out to snag another line drive for out number three.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 5, End 4th -- The Sox endure a messy offensive inning, but have the tie in hand none-the-less. After a leadoff double from Cody Ross, Ryan Kalish knocks a ground ball single into center field to tie the game before an out is recorded. That's when things get a bit embarassing. On a 1-0 count, the hit-and-run is on, and the Blue Jays opt to pitch out. Kalish manages to realize what's going on before it's too late for him to turn back, but Nick Punto still has to try and make contact. The result is Nick Punto flailing at a pitch a good foot outside of the zone, but even that might be better than the double play that follows. Daniel Nava does try to restart the rally, but his line drive comes just short of catching wall, allowing Rajai Davis to grab the third out.
Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 4, Mid 4th -- You can feel momentum shifting now. Felix Doubront kicks a comebacker over to first, where Gonzalez charges it and applies the tag for the out. J.P. Arencibia makes it two by grounding into an easy out behind him, but there's nothing easy about the out on Brett Lawrie, who hits a quick grounder to the left of short. Nick Punto, however, is up to the task, making his best play of the season by ranging, making the grab on the backhand, and firing a bullet to first to just barely get the out and secure the 1-2-3 inning.
Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 4, End 3rd -- The Sox close the gap to one run with the help of the Toronto Defense. Dustin Pedroia gets a two-out rally started with a single up the middle--he's suddenly on fire again over the last few games--then steals second, bluffs towards third with Yunel Escobar having come well off the bag in trying to apply the tag, and earns an errant throw that lets him take the extra base. David Ortiz walks behind him, but all this seems to be for nothing as Jarrod Saltalamacchia hits a ground ball to Kelly Johnson...
...Who completely boots it. With the ball heading into short right field, Pedroia scores from third and Ortiz moves into scoring position. Adrian Gonzalez, perhaps having recognized an effective strategy, hits a hard ground ball that reaches Johnson on one short hop and eats him up. It's a very difficult play to make and contact deserving of a single, but after the previous play, there's probably not much slack left for him in Toronto. Ortiz scores from second, and the Sox pull back within a run.
Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 2, Mid 3rd -- Felix Doubront finally gets his scoreless inning, though it's not for a lack of bad luck. The first batter of the inning, Edwin Encarnacion, hits a pop-up to the perfect spot in shallow left for a single. The misfortune is mitigated, however, as Saltalamacchia quickly catches him stealing second by a good few feet. A solid hit by Yunel Escobar gives the Jays a second baserunner, this one coming with two outs, but Dustin Pedroia picks a line drive out of the air to end the inning.
Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 2, End 2nd -- After the first inning promises fireworks, the second proves a dud for the Red Sox. Will Middlebrooks hits a ground ball that sounded a lot better than it looked, likely breaking his bat in the process for the first out. Cody Ross hits an easy fly ball for the second, and Ryan Kalish grounds weakly to first to complete the 1-2-3 frame.
Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 2, Mid 2nd -- Felix has a better second inning, but that's setting a terribly low bar. On the very first pitch of the frame, Ben Francisco hits a long gapper to left to immediately put a runner in scoring position, and while Doubront follows up by inducing two weak ground balls, the second one bounces incredibly high in the air and by the time it comes down behind the mound there's no opportunity to get the out on Brett Lawrie. Colby Rasmus quickly adds to Doubront's misery with a ground ball past a diving Dustin Pedroia, and adds a fifth run to Toronto's total.
Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 2, End 1st -- The Red Sox aren't all the way back, but they're certainly still in the game. With one out, Dustin Pedroia slices a line drive past a diving Edwin Encarnacion, and moves to third as Jose Bautista fails to come up with it cleanly in right field. The error does not prove important, however, as David Ortiz gets a middle-middle fastball from Henderson Alvarez and completely loses it into the bleachers past the bullpens in center field. It's going to be a high-scoring night in Fenway.
Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 0, Mid 1st -- Felix Doubront is the most recent Red Sox pitcher to suffer through a terrible first inning. Thing start poorly for Doubront, who has Brett Lawrie jump all over a 1-0 fastball for a single into right field. Relying almost exclusively on off-speed stuff against Colby Rasmus turns out to be a big mistake, as even with the curveball tailing towards the low, outside corner, Rasmus manages to catch it out in front of the plate, and hooks a line drive around the pole in right field for a two-run shot that just barely gets over the wall.
The empty bases may help Doubront settle down some as he gets a ground ball from Jose Bautista, but an error by Will Middlebrooks on a tough hop undoes any good that may have come from it. An Edwin Encarnacion double just barely misses being a homer, ending up high off the wall in left-center, but scores Bautista from first, and a soft single past Dustin Pedroia moves Encarnacion to third, from where he scores on a ground ball out that the Sox can't quite turn two on.