BOSTON – R.A. Dickey will have to wait for career win No. 100, a single mistake costing him a chance at the milestone. For a while win No. 79 of the season for the Toronto Blue Jays looked like it would be similarly elusive, as chance after chance to score went to waste until the eventual breakthrough came.
Even that didn’t come easy, as the Josh Donaldson triple off the top of the Green Monster that served as catalyst to a decisive four-run outburst in the 10th inning was twice reviewed before Troy Tulowitzki knocked him in to finally break the deadlock in a 5-1 victory Tuesday over the Boston Red Sox.
On a test-your-patience kind of night, the Blue Jays showed perseverance and determination.
“We were frustrated at the plate all night, hitting balls right at people and then all of a sudden we break through in the 10th inning,” said Donaldson. “R.A. did a great job, (Brett) Cecil came in and did a great job … everybody did their part. It was nice to come out with a win because just the way the night was going, it didn’t look like that was going to happen.”
Donaldson also ripped a high and deep drive well over the foul pole in left ruled foul in the first before the Blue Jays squandered good opportunities in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth innings.
They were going 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position after Jose Bautista flew out for the first out in the 10th before Tulowitzki broke through with a single through the 5-6 hole, bringing some relief.
“We hit some balls at some people,” said Tulowitzki. “At least for myself I found hole and that was nice. And some other guys as well. … It was just a game where we had to grind it out and that’s what good teams do.”
Delayed as it was, the late rally pushed the 79-59 Blue Jays’ lead atop the AL East back to 1.5 games over the 77-60 New York Yankees, who dropped a 2-1 decision to the Baltimore Orioles.
The turning point came on a Fenway-Park-only play, as Donaldson’s high-arching fly ball hit the edge right at the top of the Monster and bounced up some 25 feet in the air before dropping to the ground.
Crew chief Fieldin Culbreth sought reviews to ensure first that it wasn’t a home run – a few Blue Jays had rushed out of the dugout demanding a home run signal – and then that Donaldson didn’t come off the bag after being called safe at third.
Both calls were confirmed.
“First of all, you want the home run because it means we scored,” Tulowitzki said of the awaiting the reviews. “Secondly, you’re like, man, is he out or is he safe? Because that was a gutsy play. This year, with some of those reviews, you slide off and it can get you in trouble. But luckily he stayed on and we were able to capitalize on that.”
Indeed there was some sound opportunism there by Donaldson, who charged hard out of the box on a ball that’s a routine fly out at every other stadium in the majors, and then cleverly charged for third.
“I missed it, but after I hit I realized we are playing at Fenway and I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to get to second,” said Donaldson. “Then I saw the ball hit up and go straight up in the air – I had a very similar play that happened last year in Cleveland – and I made sure I was running the entire time and ended up getting to third base. That ended up getting us a run right there.”
After Bautista flew out to shallow centre field and Edwin Encarnacion was walked to set up a potential double play, Tulowitzki delivered off Alexi Ogando to break a 1-1 tie that started in the second inning.
“He’s done that his whole career, and he’s going to continue to do it,” manager John Gibbons said of Tulowitzki. “He’s been one of the marquee players in the game for a lot of years.”
Chris Colabello followed with another RBI single, Tulowitzki was balked home by Ogando and Colabello scored on a Kevin Pillar sacrifice fly when catcher Blake Swihart couldn’t hang on to left-fielder Brock Holt’s throw.
The Blue Jays finished the night 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position, and without the strong work of Dickey and relievers Brett Cecil, Mark Lowe and Aaron Sanchez through the first nine, this win doesn’t happen.
Dickey allowed one run on four hits and a walk over his six innings of work, burned only by a Travis Shaw homer in the second on an 83 mph fastball.
“For a team that leads the league in first-pitch take percentage, they were pretty aggressive on me,” said Dickey. “I thought with Shaw that he would get a look and I could maybe steal a strike, but he saw spin and did a good job of putting the barrel on it.”
That was his only real trouble through the first four frames, but he needed to be at his best in the fifth to strand Pablo Sandoval’s leadoff double and in the sixth to do the same with Dustin Pedroia’s one-out two-bagger.
“That is a good ball club, the club that they’re running out there every day is not the club that’s in last place,” said Dickey. “It’s full of guys who are young and hungry and putting together great at-bats, and you saw (Dustin) Pedroia was back, it’s a tough lineup, there are not a lot of times when you can just take a breath. Jackie Bradley Jr., keeping him and Mookie Betts off the bases for me was big. Those guys are playing really well, that’s a good ball club over there and we can’t go to sleep on them.”
Roberto Osuna closed things out in the bottom of the 10th, a quick and easy end to a trying but rewarding night.
