Red Sox rally late for 2nd straight game, beat Blue Jays 5-4

BOSTON (AP) — Alex Verdugo hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox rallied late for the second straight game, beating Toronto 5-4 on Monday night in the opener of an important series for the Blue Jays.

Boston star Rafael Devers added a solo homer on the four-year anniversary of his first major-league shot. It was the AL All-Star third baseman's first ever homer with a natural-colored barreled bat. Each of the previous 100 in his career were with a dark-colored barrel.

Devers belted one for his first big-league hit in his second career game in a victory at Seattle on July 26, 2017.

Bo Bichette hit a two-run homer for fourth-place Toronto, which fell to 10½ games behind in the East.

A day after being no-hit for seven innings by New York’s Domingo Germán before putting up five runs in the eighth to erase a four-run deficit and beat the rival Yankees, Boston’s bats were held down until Verdugo belted his drive over the Red Sox bullpen off Trevor Richards (1-1).

It was Boston's major-league leading 33rd come-from-behind victory.

“It's hard to get 27 outs against us. We know that,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “It's a tough place to play. You can feel the energy. In the eighth inning, they were a little bit louder, expecting something big.”

Verdugo took his time rounding the bases, enjoying the moment. On Sunday, he broke up the no-hitter with a deep double to right.

“Just rounding the bases, part of it was the moment, putting us up,” he said.

Adam Ottavino (3-3) worked a scoreless inning for the win. Matt Barnes got the final three outs for his 22nd save.

Bichette hit his drive over the Green Monster off Nick Pivetta, a shot that hit a wall behind the first row and bounced back...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Red-Sox-rally-late-for-2nd-straight-game-beat-16341671.php