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baseball red sox 9, blue jays 8 (10 innings)

Melky Cabrera of the Toronto Blue Jays moves to third base as Brock Holt #26 of the Boston Red Sox takes a late throw in the first inning against Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on September 5, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts.Jim Rogash/Getty Images

The clubhouse was as silent as a morgue. There was no music blaring and even the television was shut off.

At one of the tables in the cramped visiting team's quarters, Toronto Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen sat in front of a laptop computer and, almost sadistically, replayed over and over the plays in the 10th inning that ultimately cost his team the victory.

In the end, it was the Boston Red Sox who emerged with a gut-wrenching 9-8 victory in 10 topsy-turvy innings at Fenway Park on Friday night, a game that rudely squelched Toronto's five-game win streak.

It could also very well earmark the beginning of the end of Toronto's flickering playoff hopes.

In the third inning Melky Cabrera, arguably Toronto's best performer over the course of the season, jammed his right pinky finger into the dirt scrambling to get back to first base on a pick-off play.

The leftfielder was out on the play and remained in the game.

In the sixth inning, when he next came to bat, Cabrera could not grip his bat properly and had to take himself out of the game.

Cabrera went for X-rays and it showed that he had broken his finger.

Hitting .301 on the year not to mention a force defensively in left, Cabrera will have surgery next week. He is finished for the season.

"That's one of the top dogs," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "It's unfortunate.

"He's one of those guys, it's really tough to replace. He had a tremendous year for us. That's tough.

So was the way that the Blue Jays lost.

Three times in the game the Blue Jays had the lead only to see Boston battle back each time, most gallingly in the 10th inning where the Blue Jays started in the top of the frame by scoring twice to secure an 8-6 lead.

But with closer Casey Janssen on the mound, chaos erupted and the Red Sox would count three in the bottom of the 10th to secure the unlikely victory and saddle Janssen with the loss.

The victory was secured by Yoenis Cespedes who drilled a deep shot to centre field with the bases loaded to easily score pinch-runner Jemile Weeks from third base with the winning, walk-off run for Boston.

"We played a hell of a game," said Gibbons, trying his best to show a brave face amongst all the dejected figures in the Toronto clubhouse. "We just couldn't shut them down twice late in the game to close that thing out. The guys battled all night."

It was a heck of a game to witness and a dreadful one to lose.

For Janssen, it was a nightmare as he has been under intense scrutiny of late with many questioning his continued presence as the Toronto closer as his performance over the second half of the season continues to slip.

What transpired Friday won't help.

A leadoff single to Mookie Betts followed by an Xavier Bogaerts ground through the left side that just squirted through the Toronto defence. Christian Vazquez then lays down a bunt single and the bases are loaded.

Will Middlebrooks then comes to the plate and he also squirts a ground through the left side that scored Boston's first run of the inning.

"A few of those balls, just a couple inches here, a couple inches there, a different outcome," a dejected Janssen said afterward. "That was a tough one."

The second Boston run scores on a sacrifice fly by Dustin Pedroia that cut Toronto's lead to 9-8.

Then, in a play that will have many second-guessing the managing of Gibbons in the game, David Ortiz knocked a slow roller toward Steve Tolleson at second base, who was only in the game after Gibbons opted to pinch-run for Ryan Goins back in the ninth inning.

Tolleson, in his haste to try to turn what would have been an inning ending double play, made an awkward sidearm relay to second that missed its mark for an error that once again left the bases loaded for Boston, setting the stage for Cespedes' winning drive.

Goins is Toronto's best second baseman and he was probably better equipped than Tolleson to make that play at second.

Gibbons was asked if later had second thoughts about taking Goins of the game when he did.

"I don't look back at things like that," Gibbons said. "We're in a position to win, twice. We just didn't close it out."

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