Extra effort: Three-run Teoscar Hernandez homer in the 10th leads Blue Jays to Fenway thriller
Rob Longley
Sep 04, 2020 • Last Updated September 4, 2020 • 5 minute read
Teoscar Hernandez of the Blue Jays, right, celebrates with Cavan Biggio and Derek Fisher after hitting a three-run home run against the Red Sox during the 10th inning at Fenway Park in Boston, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020. Photo by Maddie Meyer /Getty Images
BOSTON — With the tantalizing, hitter-friendly Green Monster visible outside the visitors dugout, the Blue Jays had to at least be hopeful the power in their offence would awaken on Thursday night.
Instead, they met a suddenly formidable Martin Perez.
It took most of a long, long night at the ballpark and a shot to the opposite field of the famed Monster, but a three-run Teoscar Hernandez homer that cleared the wall in right field gave the Jays a dramatic 6-2 win over the Red Sox in 10 innings. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. added a solo shot later in the inning for good measure as the long-ball power that carries this team suddenly returned.
It was the towering Hernandez blast that caused the Jays dugout to erupt, however, a roar that echoed through empty Fenway, where these two teams will meet four more times over the next three days.
And where have you seen this before? It was a clutch Toronto three-pointer to bring down a Boston team for the second time in one night.
It was far from pretty for much of the contest, but a weary Jays team that didn't arrive to its hotel near Fenway Park until 4 a.m. found a way to pull out a win against the struggling, basement-dwelling BoSox.
There was some sloppy base-running from the Jays. Again. There was inability to drive in a clutch run when needed. Again.
But ultimately this young, raw team continues to stay not just steady in the American League playoff race but improving its status. With the Yankees losing to the Mets in New York, the Jays improved to 20-16 and in a tie with the Bronx Bombers for second in the AL East.
The late September evening certainly didn't start well for the visitors as Perez had the no-no going and the sleepy-looking Jays hitters – now 20 games into a 28 games in 27 days stretch – couldn't muster any traction.
That the game even got to extra innings took some charity work from Red Sox reliever Ryan Brazier in the eighth. Just when you thought the Jays were the only big-league team that had mastered the brain-dead move, Brazier had you covered.
After Cavan Biggio led off with his ninth double of the season and Randal Grichuk walked, Brasier advance both on a balk and on the next pitch, advanced them again with a wild pitch. Tie ball game.
Sure, the Jays left Grichuk stranded at third, but for the first time since the second inning, they weren't trailing. And the stage was set for Teoscar.
Though there have been disturbing signs for the Jays of late – sloppy play, cooling offence to name two – but the wins somehow keep coming.
And perhaps momentum that they will need heading into a Friday doubleheader against a Red Sox that has won just 12 of its 38 games.
WALKER THIS WAY
We got a window into the intensity of Taijuan Walker when the Jays starter got the hook in the sixth.
Granted, he had loaded the bases, but Walker is clearly the type of pitcher who believes he can clean up his own mess, much as Hyun-Jin Ryu did the previous night in Miami. Walker glared at pitching coach Pete Walker as he descended into he visitor's dugout, stormed by him and tossed his glove against the wall.
It doesn't mean there's trouble in Blue Jays land, but Walker the pitcher certainly let it be known how he felt about third-time through the order jitters by those who make the call.
Another day, another smack your head blunder on the base paths, this time from Vlad Guerrero Jr. After a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. shallow fly was dropped in right field, Guerrero thought he might have been able to sneak home. Instead, he was dead on arrival several feet before the plate … There wasn't exactly stellar execution in the eighth either, despite tying it. But with a runner on third and nobody out the Jays had to get that go-ahead run in. Instead, a Hernandez strikeout was followed by groundouts by Guerrero and Gurriel, the latter a rocket off the bat that was snared by Xander Boegarts … Hernandez was in at DH after complaining of a stiff back following a long trip in and 3 a.m. arrival into Boston after Wednesday's game in Miami. That allowed Biggio to slide out to right field … Tanner Roark will get the start in the first game of Friday's doubleheader (first pitch 4:10 p.m.) followed by Ross Stripling in his Jays debut. Stripling came over in a trade-deadline deal with the Dodgers.
WHAT ABOUT BO
Some encouraging action took place on the Fenway infield about two hours prior to Thursday's first pitch when injured Jays shortstop Bo Bichette had his most ambitious workout since going on the injured list with a right knee sprain.
Bichette had a lengthy fielding session, showing strong range in both directions and followed that up with his first on-field batting cage session.
He rocked a couple of massive shoots over the Green Monster in left field, including one that hit about two thirds up the light pole and easily would have been out of the park.
The team hasn't set a timeline for the return of Bichette, who has been out since Aug. 16. The team has made it clear they won't rush him back into action, but if he continues to progress at this rate it could be earlier than the original estimation of mid-September.
AROUND THE BASES
Daniel Vogelbach, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week, was claimed off of waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers. Vogelbach essentially replaces former Jay Justin Smoak, who was DFAed by the Brew Crew … After telling the coaching staff he had some tightness in his back, Hernandez was the DH on Thursday as Biggio shuffled out to right field … The Jays will be the home team for the second half of Friday's doubleheader, the makeup date from the postponed game in Buffalo last week.