Blue Jays Drop Series Finale In Extras, Boston 5 Toronto 3

Red Sox 5 Blue Jays 3

In his return to the Rogers Centre, David Price battled R.A. Dickey in a game that began as a terrific pitching duel. Boston's offence was completely shutdown over the first half of the game, as Dickey enjoyed a no-hitter through five innings. Although Dickey did not have a strikeout to this point, generating plenty of weak contact kept the Red Sox lineup off of the scoreboard.

David Price escaped a couple dangerous situations to keep the game scoreless through four. Edwin Encarnacion and Justin Smoak earned back-to-back two-out walks in the first, and quickly moved up on a wild pitch. Hitting fifth, Devon Travis nearly gave the Blue Jays an early lead, but a hard groundball was right at third baseman Travis Shaw for a routine out.

Toronto continued to make strong contact off of Price to begin the second. Leading off the inning, Darwin Barney looked to have a sure double off of the bat, but left-fielder Blake Swihart showcased his strong athleticism to make an impressive catch in the left-centre gap.

The Blue Jays finally got to their former ace in the 5^th, which begun with a leadoff single from Ezequiel Carrera. Josh Thole was asked to advance him with a sacrifice bunt, but promptly struck out for the first out of the inning. Jose Bautista, who boasts extremely strong numbers against Price, stepped up to the plate and crushed the first pitch offering off of the left field foul pole for a two-run home run. Heading into the 6^th, the Jays were out to a 2-0 lead while Boston remained hitless.

The Red Sox first hit of the afternoon finally came with one-out in the 6^th, as Mookie Betts belted a one-out triple that began a rally. Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts quickly followed with back-to-back singles, before Travis Shaw earned a full count walk to load the bases. Although Dickey was at 100 pitches, including 30 in the inning, John Gibbons let Dickey face the dangerous Hanley Ramirez. This decision quickly backfired, as the Red Sox quickly tied the game up on a hit-by-pitch.

Dickey's afternoon was over, and Gibbons turned to left-handed reliever Chad Girodo to face Jackie Bradley Jr. with still just one out and the bases loaded. Although the young lefty-specialist owns an extremely low walk-rate, Bradley Jr. was able to earn a full count walk to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.

With right-handed hitter Josh Rutledge due up next for Boston, it was Jesse Chavez's turn to try to limit the damage. The veteran pitcher came right at Rutledge, generating a swinging strikeout on a fastball in the zone. Young catcher Christian Vasquez stepped up to try and break the game open, but promptly flew out to right fielder Jose Bautista to end the inning. After David Price retired the Jays in order in the bottom half, the Red Sox maintained the 3-2 lead through six.

Chavez returned to the mound in the 7^th, pitching around a leadoff single for a scoreless frame. With two-hits already in the ball game, Carrera bounced a groundball off of home plate to begin the inning, which caromed high into the air to first baseman Travis Shaw. In an attempt to out-race Carrera to the bag, Shaw lost his footing and tripped, allowing Carrera to reach on an infield single. Josh Thole made no mistake on his sacrifice bunt attempt this time around, providing the Jays with a runner in scoring position for the top of the lineup.

David Price's day came to an end, as tall righty Heath Hembree entered to face Bautista and Josh Donaldson. Toronto's big bats were given a solid opportunity to tie the game at three, but Hembree generated a strikeout and fly out to end the threat. Just like yesterday's game, Toronto was down heading into the 8^th.

After Joe Biagini threw a clean 8^th, Encarnacion, Smoak, and Travis were due up in the one-run game. Out of nowhere, a parrot seemed to suddenly fly on Edwin's arm, as the slugger clobbered a no-doubt solo shot into the left field bleachers to tie the game at 3. Smoak and Barney continued the rally with a pair of singles, but left-hander Robbie Ross Jr. got pinch-hitter Russell Martin to ground out to keep the game tied through 8.

Biagini returned for the ninth, effectively pitching around a pair of singles to end an effective day. In the bottom half, a two-out single preceded a walk to Encarnacion, putting a runner in scoring position for Jimmy Paredes. Unfortunately, several swing-and-misses sent him back to the dugout, and this game was headed to extra innings.

Roberto Osuna entered to take the mound in the top of the 10^th, and soon surrendered a single, two-out walk, and a pair of wild pitches that started a major threat. Josh Rutledge was given yet another terrific opportunity to break the game open, but an easy fly out to Kevin Pillar kept the Red Sox off of the scoreboard.

The Jays went down quietly in the bottom half, and Gavin Floyd entered to pitch in the 11^th. The 33-year old displayed absolutely no command, surrendering two walks and a wild pitch. He did get the first out, but it was only after Ryan Hanigan chased a pair of pitches that would have been ball four. As a result of this poor performance, Drew Storen entered the game with runners on the corners and just one-out. Up stepped Dustin Pedroia, who launched a RBI ground-rule double into the gap in right. The Red Sox were out to a one-run lead, which was immediately doubled thanks to an RBI groundout from Xander Bogaerts.

Koji Uehara took the mound for the Red Sox in the 11^th with this two-run lead. The hometown fans were hoping for yet another dramatic comeback, but bats went down quietly to end the game. Jays of the day go to Encarnacion (.349), Chavez (.210), Biagini (.188), Osuna (.137), and Carrera (.136). Plenty of players had the low mark: Floyd (-.218), Pillar (-.215), Storen (-.191), Travis (-.188), Martin (-.152), Dickey (-.145), Girodo (-.123), Parades (-.111), Saunders (-.104), and Thole (-.104).

It's a frustrating loss, as the majority of runs allowed seemed to be generated from base on balls. The Jays did manage to win the series however, and will now welcome the New York Yankees into town for a three game series.