Red Sox sweep Blue Jays: Jarren Duran, Alex Verdugo shine in series finale

The Boston Red Sox completed the 2nd sweep of the season against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday Afternoon by the score of 5-4.

This is the Sox’s 7th win against the Blue Jays this season. The last time the Sox have won seven straight against the Blue Jays was in 1999.

The Red Sox are now one game over .500 at 43-42 while the Blue Jays would go down to 45-40 while both are racing for wild card spots. The Blue Jays is 1.5 games behind the Yankees and Astros for the final wild card spot, while the Red Sox are 3.5 games behind.

Yoshida was out for this game due to the injury that he suffered while the was hit by pitch in the 7th inning of Saturday’s win. The Boston Red Sox will be off on Monday, and Yoshida should be ready to do by Tuesday against the Texas Rangers. He was replaced by Rob Refsnyder at left field and Justin Turner at designated hitter, and Tristan Casas was at first base.

Red Sox starter Garrett Whitlock exited his start with an elbow injury

Garrett Whitlock started the game in the 1st inning but had to be taken out due to suffering tightness in his right elbow. Whitlock had struck out one batter in the 1st and allowed only one hit which would a solo homer by Brandon Belt, the 1st of two in the game. Whitlock had previously been on the injured list in the beginning of the season with right elbow ulnar neuritis.

After Whitlock had to be taken out, he was promptly replaced by Brennan Bernadino who pitched into the third inning and allowed the single by George Springer. Then, later in the inning, he was replaced by Kaleb Ort who allowed a 2-run single to Bo Bichette who brought Springer and Kevin Kiermaier. Ort was charged a run to Kiermaier while Bernadino was charged to Springer.

Both would then be replaced by Nick Pivetta who pitched four strong innings striking out six, and allowing the 2nd Belt solo homer.

Caleb Martin would replace Pivetta in the 8th and would subsequently earn his 2nd win of the season in relief, while Joe Jacques would earn his 1st career save due to Jansen not being available because he pitched a 4-out save in Saturday’s win, which was helped by Alex Verdugo’s throw to home.

Red Sox player of the game: Jarren Duran hits four doubles

Jarren Duran had a career day at the plate for the Red Sox. Duran would go 5-for-5 with his first four hits being doubles, and his last being an infield single.

This would help Duran score most of the runs that the Sox would end up scoring. Duran scored three in the game, which the first two were off Rafael Devers while the last in the 7th by Turner.

This is the 50th time in MLB history that a player had four doubles in a game, and the 8th time in Boston Red Sox franchise history. The last time came when Devers hit four on August 13, 2019 in Cleveland. However, no player has hit 5 doubles in a game, so Duran joins the list of players who share an all-time record.

Red Sox play of the day: Dugie goes clutch again, this time in the batters box

In the top of the ninth, Alex Verdugo hit a solo shot to right center for the go-ahead homer, which would prove to be the game-winning. This is the 2nd night in a row that Dugie has gone clutch mode, where on Saturday he saved the game by the throw to home plate that would tag out Bichette.

This is the 2nd go-ahead homer in the 9th that Verdugo has hit against the Blue Jays this season, which came on May 1 where he hit a walk-off on Jordan Romano, who was also the pitcher who Dugie hit off of on Sunday.

The Boston Red Sox will have an off day on Monday, and then will go for a home series against the Texas Rangers starting on Independence Day Tuesday at 1:35 pm first pitch. The Red Sox have not named a starter for Tuesday, as it could be one of the bullpen guys or a potential callup from Worcester as they have done in recent weeks.

Although, it probably won’t be Ort as it was on Wednesday’s loss against the Miami Marlins, due to him getting action in the bullpen on Sunday.