Thanks in part to George Springer's excellence, the Toronto Blue Jays are the hottest team in baseball right now, and they continued their recent success with a walk-off win over the AL East rival Red Sox on Saturday afternoon (TOR 1, BOS 0). The win was Toronto's fifth straight and its ninth in the past 10 games.
Saturday's game was a classic pitcher's duel. Blue Jays lefty Robbie Ray held the Red Sox to two singles in six innings and Red Sox righty Nick Pivetta limited Toronto to one single in six innings. They were both masterful. In the seventh inning though, Marcus Semien clubbed Matt Barnes' first pitch over the left-field wall for a walk-off solo homer.
Here is Semien's walk-off blast. Saturday's game was the first game of a doubleheader and thus a seven-inning affair.
"That was great," Ray told reporters, including Sportsnet's Shi Davidi, following the game. "It was a pitcher's duel today, (Pivetta) had a great game as well and we were just able to come out on top at the end. When Semien hit that first-pitch home run, it was amazing. Everybody was screaming and yelling. It was a fun little experience for sure."
Saturday's win was the Blue Jays' fourth walk-off win of the season, and they've now had walk-off wins in three ballparks. Because of the pandemic, the Blue Jays have played home games this year at their spring training ballpark (TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla.), their Triple-A ballpark (Sahlen Field in Buffalo, N.Y.), and most recently Rogers Centre.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Blue Jays are the first team with walk-off wins in three ballparks in the same season since the 1898 Baltimore Orioles. Those Orioles played from 1882-99 and are a defunct franchise not associated with the current Baltimore Orioles.
The Blue Jays also picked up walk-off wins against the Yankees on April 14 (in Dunedin), against the Braves on May 1 (in Dunedin) and against the Marlins on June 2 (in Buffalo).
Saturday's win was the club's first walk-off win in Toronto since Sept. 23, 2019, when Anthony Alford hit a 15th-inning home run against the Orioles.
Toronto's hot streak has moved it within 2 1/2 games of the second American League wild card spot.
