Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Cavan Biggio (8) slides into home to score during the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston on Sept. 4, 2020.Paul Rutherford/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Danny Jansen hit a two-run homer, Travis Shaw had a solo shot and the Toronto Blue Jays held off the Boston Red Sox 8-7 in the opener of a doubleheader Friday.
The Blue Jays, pushing for a playoff spot, have won three straight and seven of nine.
Shaw went 3 for 4 with a double off the top of right field wall and single, Rowdy Tellez had two singles with a sacrifice fly and Randal Grichuk added a two-run single.
Yairo Munoz went 3 for 3 with hit a two-run homer and RBI double for the Red Sox, who have lost five in a row, nine of 12 and fell a season-high 15 games under .500 for the first time since 2014.
The Blue Jays had built an 8-4 edge before Boston rallied with three runs in the sixth.
A.J. Cole (2-0) pitched an inning of scoreless relief and Anthony Bass got three outs in the seventh and final inning for his fifth save.
Toronto will be the home team in the second game, which is the makeup of the Aug. 27 game in Buffalo, New York, that was postponed when the teams didn’t play in protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
This was the first time in Fenway Park’s century-plus history that the Red Sox will be the “road” team, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Entering the day, Boston’s staff had allowed an MLB-worst 67 homers and owned the highest ERA at 6.13 — over a half run higher than the next worst, Colorado (5.51).
The Blue Jays didn’t take long to add to those numbers when they made it 3-0 in the second inning against Zack Godley (0-4). Shaw’s went into the seats behind Boston’s bullpen and, after Joe Panik’s walk, Jansen hit his into the Green Monster seats.