 are the only shortstops in major league history to record 30 home runs and 50 doubles in a single season.''We're very proud of him,'' Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Bogaerts. ''It's not only the numbers, it's the consistency of him showing up every day and the routine and being a leader and understanding what he means to the organization. In a quote-unquote bad season, he's been showing up every day.'' Devers, who got the day off Thursday, needs one more homer to make Boston the first team ever to have two players with 30 homers and 50 doubles.''The pressure is on him now and he'll come through,'' Bogaerts said.One night after their 159-game streak with at least one extra-base hit was snapped in an 8-0, two-hit defeat, the Red Sox racked up four doubles and 12 total hits.''It was a tough one yesterday, the at-bats weren't great,'' Cora said. ''The effort is still there, they're still working. The at-bats were a lot better today, we controlled the strike zone a little bit more.'' Left-hander Josh Taylor (2-2), one of nine Red Sox pitchers, worked one inning for the win. Brandon Workman got the final four outs for his 12th save in 18 opportunities.Right-hander Jhoulys Chacin opened for the Red Sox, allowing two hits in 2 1/3 scoreless innings.Toronto made three errors, two of them by outfielders, and endured several misplays on a sloppy night. Left fielder Derek Fisher made a two-base error on Betts' single in the ninth.''He had a tough one today, for sure,'' manager Charlie Montoyo said of Fisher.Blue Jays right-hander Clay Buchholz (1-5) took the loss in his first career outing against his former team, allowing four runs and seven hits in four innings.''I did a little bit of my job today,'' Buchholz said. ''I didn't do it all. It's tough to navigate lineups like that.'' Buchholz went 81-61 over 206 games in 10 seasons with the Red Sox, pitching a no-hitter in his second career start in 2007. He was traded to Philadelphia in December, 2016.Bogaerts doubled off Buchholz in the third, joining Devers as the only pair of Red Sox teammates with 50 in the same season.Hernandez opened the scoring with a two-out, two-run double in the second. Martinez doubled home Bogaerts in the third, and Juan Centeno hit an RBI single in the fourth.Toronto's Cavan Biggio chased left-hander Brian Johnson with an RBI double in the fifth and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. greeted right-hander Ryan Brasier with an RBI single.Brock Holt and Bogaerts made it 6-2 with RBI singles off right-hander Jordan Romano in the seventh.Workman came on after Matt Barnes issued a bases-loaded walk to Fisher in the eighth and got Bo Bichette to fly out.Biggio had three of Toronto's seven hits and reached base four times.TRAINER'S ROOMBlue Jays: Toronto activated RHP Elvis Luciano (right elbow) from the 60-day injured list. Luciano, 19, became the first big leaguer born in the 2000s to appear in a game when he debuted against Detroit on March 31. Luciano has been out since June 12.BIRTHDAY BUMPTo make room for Luciano on the 40-man roster, the Blue Jays released left-hander Clayton Richard. The move came on Richard's 36th birthday. Richard went 1-5 with a 5.96 ERA in 10 starts.GOING NORTHBoston is 20-8 in Toronto over the past three seasons.BATTEREDGuerrero slammed his bat on the ground in disgust after striking out on three pitches to end the seventh, leaving runners at second and third.UP NEXTRed Sox: Boston is off Friday. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (17-6, 3.73) starts Saturday in the opener of a two-game series at Philadelphia. Rodriguez lost to the Yankees Monday, snapping a four-start winning streak. RHP Aaron Nola (12-5, 3.70) starts for the Phillies.Blue Jays: LHP Anthony Kay (0-0, 3.18) makes his second career start Friday as the Blue Jays begin a three-game series against the Yankees. Kay struck out eight batters and allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings in his debut at Tampa Bay last Saturday. RHP Masahiro Tanaka (10-8, 4.53) starts for New York.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Jays' Buchholz faces former team, Red Sox, for 1st timeFLMWhen the Boston Red Sox last saw Clay Buchholz, the right-hander's time in the major leagues appeared close to the end -- a once-promising career derailed by injury.Now, three years later, Buchholz is still in the league, and he faces his former club for the first time as his Toronto Blue Jays host the Red Sox in the finale of a three-game series Thursday.Buchholz (1-4, 5.31 ERA) will make his fourth start since returning last month from a stint on the 60-day injured list caused by right shoulder inflammation. He'll be opposed by Boston righty Jhoulys Chacin (3-10, 5.60).Buchholz, a compensation-round pick by the Red Sox in the 2005 draft, pitched in Boston from 2007-16, his most notable accomplishment coming when he no-hit the Baltimore Orioles in his second career start. Injuries and inconsistency marked the rest of his tenure, though he went 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA in 2010 and 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 16 starts in 2013, making the All-Star team each year.The Red Sox traded Buchholz to the Phillies in December 2016, and he tore the flexor tendon in his right forearm after his second start with Philadelphia and missed the remainder of the 2017 campaign. He resurfaced with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018 and went 7-2 with a 2.01 ERA in 16 starts to earn a one-year, $3 million deal with Toronto this year."I'm glad that he's still pitching and getting his action," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, a former teammate of Buchholz. "This guy, we've seen him when he was young. For him to keep performing at this level is a testament to who he is." Buchholz, 35, has made quality starts in two of his three appearances since his return from the IL. He gave up four runs (three earned) in six innings in a 5-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday."It's good to be back," he said. "You'd like to win, but for this group, it's a learning experience, a learning curve. I think in the near future, there will be a lot of wins for this team." Signs of that have come in this series, as the Blue Jays have won the first two meetings. The Red Sox, meanwhile, are reeling, having lost five in a row to fall well off the American League wild-card pace. Boston was held to two hits while falling 8-0 on Wednesday."The effort is there, but the results are not," Cora said. "Obviously, everybody is disappointed at what's going on." One of the few bright spots over the past week for Boston was Chacin. In his team debut, he struck out four over two perfect innings against the New York Yankees while pitching for the first time since July 24. He also threw a scoreless inning in relief against the New York Yankees on Sunday.A starter his entire run with the Milwaukee Brewers before getting released earlier this year, Chacin is building back up into a source of innings for the Red Sox.Chacin, having spent most his career in the National League, will face the Blue Jays for the first time.--Field Level Media
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