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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays rally past Red Sox for second straight win
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Photo credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Michael Coyle
Aug 11, 2026, 22:03 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays are figuring out different ways to win right now. 
Even on a night when Dylan Cease wasn’t at his best, the Blue Jays’ bats and bullpen did enough to rally the club to their second straight victory over the Boston Red Sox, 5-3, and improve their record to 58-63. 
After falling behind 1-0 on a Ceddanne Rafaela sacrifice fly, the Blue Jays wasted no time answering. After the first two batters of the inning got out, Nathan Lukes singled, which was followed with a walk by Charles McAdoo. Up stepped Brett Bateman, who stayed on a Patrick Sandoval slider by lining a double to left-centre field to tie the game up. 
The Red Sox instantly answered on Wilyer Abreu’s 21st home run to open the top of the fourth inning, and the lead swelled to 3-1 when Rafaela smashed his 16th home run of the season on Cease’s first pitch of the fifth inning. 
Down two and facing Sandoval, the Blue Jays were aided by a Caleb Durbin error. With runners on first and second, the Blue Jays received a sacrifice bunt from Nathan Lukes, then a sacrifice fly from McAdoo to make it a 3-2 game. Bateman once again won a left-on-left battle with a single up the middle to bring home Myles Straw and tie the game at 3-3. 
With a 3-3 tie heading to the bottom of the sixth inning, George Springer worked a leadoff walk and went first to third on an Alejandro Kirk single. Ernie Clement, who has been in a bit of a funk as of late, beat out a fielder’s choice to get himself an RBI and give the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead. 
Holding a slim one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Blue Jays got that ever-so-important insurance run off Red Sox reliever Seth Martinez. With runners on first and second with two out, Straw lined a Martinez hanging sweeper down the left-field line for an RBI double, and pushed the Blue Jays’ lead to 5-3. 
Cease turned in a pitching line of 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, in what was the right-hander’s shortest outing since June 27, when he lasted only 4.2 in a 7-4 loss against the Texas Rangers. 
For the season, Cease is now 7-5 with a 2.40 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. With 191 strikeouts across his 131.1 innings pitched, the 29-year-old sits second in MLB and trails only Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, who has 204. 
Following Cease’s five innings, Chase Lee – who picked up the win –, Brendon Little, Braydon Fisher, and Spencer Miles – who picked up his first career save with a shutout ninth – all combined to toss four scoreless innings, and keep the Red Sox offence at bay. 
The Blue Jays can make it three wins in a row on Wednesday, and pick up a series win over the Red Sox when they hand the ball to José Soriano for his second start since being acquired. The Red Sox counter with left-hander Ranger Suarez.
First pitch is 7:07 p.m EST at Rogers Centre. 
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