Final: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 1 - Red Sox win sixth consecutive series in win against Blue Jays

The Boston Red Sox win the rubber match against the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1.

Finishing off a successful month of July at home, the Red Sox played fundamental baseball on both sides of the plate. Ranger Suarez pitched four scoreless innings in his first start coming off the IL, and Boston's bullpen kept the Blue Jays scoreless until the ninth inning.

The Red Sox scored their runs by advancing runners in scoring position. They bunted three times throughout today's contest, and each bunt helped bring runners home.

In the third inning, Andruw Monasterio lead off the inning with a base hit off the left field wall. One at-bat later, Carlos Narváez dropped down a sac bunt to put Monasterio in scoring position. And with two outs and Monasterio at third base, Ceddanne Rafaela brought home the first run of the game with an RBI base hit.

The Red Sox repeated the same approach in the fourth inning. With two runners on base to start the inning, Romy Gonzalez dropped a bunt to put two runners in scoring position with one out, and in the next at-bat, Jarren Duran brought home both runs to extend Boston's lead to three runs.

In the seventh inning, Chad Tracy did it again. Boston had two runners on base and no outs, and Narvaez dropped down his second sac bunt. This resulted in a pinch-hit double by Jahmai Jones, bringing home two more runs for Boston.

Wilyer Abreu added an additional RBI base hit in the same inning to give Boston six unanswered runs.

The Red Sox finished the game without needing to use any of their high-end bullpen arms. They allowed one run in the ninth inning to lose the shutout bid, but Ryan Watson pitched two consecutive innings to wrap up the game.

Boston will now go on its third west coast road trip of the season, starting a four-game series against the Athletics tomorrow at 9:40 p.m.

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WHO: Red Sox (53-50) vs Blue Jays (48-57)
WHEN: 1:35 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park, Boston
SERIES TO DATE: (1-1), (2-6)
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Ranger Suarez (4-3, 3.15 ERA) vs. RHP Kevin Gausman (4-9, 4.51 ERA)
TV/RADIO: NESN, MLB Network, WEEI-FM 93.7

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Masataka Yoshida (L) DH
Ceddanne Rafaela (R) CF
Wilyer Abreu (L) RF
Willson Contreras (R) 1B
Caleb Durbin (R) 3B
Romy Gonzalez (R) 2B
Jarren Duran (L) LF
Andruw Monasterio (R) SS
Carlos Narváez (R) C

SP Ranger Suarez

BLUE JAYS

Nathan Lukes (L) RF
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
Alejandro Kirk (R) C
George Springer (R) DH
Daulton Varsho (L) CF
Kazuma Okamoto (R) 3B
Ernie Clement (R) 2B
Andrés Giménez (L) SS
Davis Schneider (R) LF

SP Kevin Gausman

WHAT'S UP

The Boston Red Sox play the rubber match against the Toronto Blue Jays with Ranger Suarez returning from the IL. 

Boston has agreed to trade rookie lefty Connelly Early to the Nationals for infielder Curtis Mead, sources confirmed late Saturday, marking the club’s first strike ahead of next Monday’s deadline. The 1-for-1 swap will be finalized before Sunday’s game. 

The Red Sox haven’t settled yet on a position for Mead and are considering where to play him and third baseman Caleb Durbin, who has signaled a willingness to move to second base.