Russell Martin Homers In Extras, Blue Jays Win Tenth Straight

Blue Jays 5 Red Sox 4

Make it ten straight wins for the Blue Jays! Thanks to a spectacular performance from its bullpen, Toronto managed to stay in the game long enough for Russell Martin to clear the "Green Monster" in the eleventh. Just when you thought the Red Sox would snap the winning streak, the Jays somehow managed to keep the game going.

After a great start, it looked like Toronto could run away with the game in the early going. Five second-inning singles put the Jays up 3-0, before three-straight singles scored another run in the forth. The offence was led from Kevin Pillar and Ryan Goins early on, while R.A. Dickey started the game with three-straight scoreless innings.

The game changed dramatically in the bottom of the fourth. A series of singles, a walk, and two passed balls cut the lead to 4-3. Toronto's offence disappeared from the fifth inning onwards, while a David Ortiz solo-shot tied the game in the sixth.

Just an inning later, Liam Hendriks entered the game in relief of Dickey. After getting Sandy Leon to groundout, Dustin Pedroia, Brock Holt, and Hanley Ramirez somehow managed to drop-in three-straight singles. With just one out in the inning, the bases were loaded for David Ortiz. Just when you figured the winning streak could soon come to an end, Hendriks struck out both Ortiz and Xander Bogaerts to strand the bases loaded.

The Jays offence continued to be non-existent throughout the later innings, with the late stages of the game turning out to be a battle of the bullpens. Each time the Red Sox would shutout the Jays, a Toronto reliever would be able to keep the game tied. Finally in the 11^th, Russell Martin blasted a towering home run to left, paving the way for the tenth straight win.

On Offence:

• SS- Jose Reyes: 1 for 5. RBI single in the 4^th, Fly out, pop out, bunt groundout, K.
• 3B- Josh Donaldson: 0 for 5. Line out, 2 groundouts, 2 Ks.
• RF- Jose Bautista: 0 for 4. BB, 2 line outs, fly out, groundout. Also made an outstanding catch to rob Rusney Castillo of a home run.
• DH- Edwin Encarnacion: 2 for 5. Two singles, fly out, 2 Ks, R.
• LF- Chris Colabello: 2 for 4. Infield single and scored in the 2^nd, line drive single in the 8^th, groundout, GIDP. Some offence, some luck, some poor defence.
• C- Russell Martin: 2 for 5. Game-winning home run, singled and scored in the 2^nd, fly out, groundout, K. Had quite a bit of trouble with the knuckleball today. Two passed balls and a Josh Donaldson error helped lead to an unearned run.
• 1B- Justin Smoak: 1 for 4. Line-drive single, 3 Ks.
• CF- Kevin Pillar: 2 for 5. 2 singles, pop out, ground out, RBI, R. Also popped-out on a sacrifice bunt attempt in the 8^th.
• 2B- Ryan Goins: 2 for 5. Two-RBI single in the 2^nd, another single in the 4^th, 2 groundouts, fly out.

• Ezequiel Carrera: 0 for 1, foul out.
• Danny Valencia: 0 for 1, groundout.

Pitching:

• R.A. Dickey: 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 K, 1 BB.
• Liam Hendriks: 2 IP, 3H, 0R, 2K. During the 7^th inning, just about everything put in play seemed to fall in. Back-to-back strikeouts to Ortiz and Bogaerts stranded the bases and kept the game tied. He also pitched a clean 8^th inning.
• Steve Delabar: 1.1 IP, K. Pitched a clean 9^th inning, before getting the first out of the 10^th.
• Aaron Loup: 0.2 IP, 1 K. Finished off a clean 10^th inning to keep the Blue Jays in the game.
• Brett Cecil: 1 IP, K. Capped off an outstanding performance from the bullpen.

Jays of the Day go to Russell Martin (.335), Brett Cecil (.193), Liam Hendriks (.190), and Steve Delabar (.189). I'll give ones to Ryan Goins (2 hits, 2 RBI) and Kevin Pillar (2 hits, 1 R, 1 RBI) as well for their surprising offensive contributions. Honourable mention to Jose Bautista for an outstanding catch, saving the Blue Jays from giving up a run. Suckage goes to R.A. Dickey (-.124) and Josh Donaldson (-.145).

The third game of the series will get underway tomorrow at 1:35 pm ET. Marco Estrada takes the mound for the Blue Jays, up against the left-handed Eduardo Rodriguez. The Jays will be going for a sweep, as well as an eleventh-straight win.