Red Sox aim to maintain mastery of Blue Jays

A night after an exhilarating walk-off victory in the series opener, the Boston Red Sox will look for their fourth consecutive win when they oppose the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.

A night after an exhilarating walk-off victory in the series opener, the Boston Red Sox will look for their fourth consecutive win when they oppose the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.

Jarren Duran (3-for-5) hit a single on Monday to score Ceddanne Rafaela with the game-winning run for the Red Sox, who trailed 6-2 after seven innings but came back for their eighth win in nine games.

Three of Boston's wins in that stretch came during a series sweep at Toronto early last week.

Rafael Devers (3-for-4 on Monday) and David Hamilton each homered and Romy Gonzalez hit a game-tying, pinch-hit, two-run single to help the Red Sox prevail with the NBA champion Boston Celtics in attendance.

"It was just amazing," Gonzalez said. "I've never really been a part of something like this, and hopefully we can just keep this thing rolling."

Duran has hit safely in a career-high 14 consecutive games.

The Tuesday pitching matchup is a rematch from the finale at Toronto last week. Red Sox right-hander Brayan Bello (7-4, 4.83 ERA) will oppose Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman (5-6, 4.24).

Bello pitched six innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts in Boston's 7-3 win on Wednesday.

"When you've got 97-98 (mph) with movement, a good changeup and a good slider, we want our guys to keep pounding the strike zone and he did," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Bello's latest outing. "(The starting pitchers) worked hard (last) week just controlling the counts and pounding the strike zone, and he executed the plan."

Bello is 2-3 with a 5.40 ERA across six career starts vs. the Blue Jays. He was 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA in two outings against Toronto last year.

The Blue Jays saw their losing streak reach a season-high seven games on Monday when they fell to 8-14 in one-run games.

"Over the course of the last week, the guys are going about it the right way," Toronto manager John Schneider said. "They're not quitting."

The loss came despite Chris Bassitt pitching seven innings of two-run ball and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. going 3-for-4 with a 471-foot, three-run homer. It was the longest home run of his career.

Schneider and his ball club will look to put the tough stretch behind them.

"My tone would be different if it was for a lack of effort or lack of prep. It's a tough stretch," Schneider said before the series. "You keep on moving. You've got to try to attack tomorrow for tomorrow."

Gausman has dropped back-to-back starts since throwing a shutout while striking out Oakland A's batters on June 8.

Last week against the Red Sox, Gausman was charged with five runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four.

In 29 career appearances (24 starts) against Boston, Gausman is 7-10 with a 4.52 ERA.

The Blue Jays expect to get a Tuesday boost with the return of shortstop Bo Bichette, who hasn't played since June 14 due to a right calf strain. Outfielder Daulton Varsho (lower back tightness) was also out the past two days, and he is listed as day-to-day.

--Field Level Media