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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays’ bullpen shuts down Red Sox offence to win series
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Photo credit: © Jaiden Tripi-Imagn Images
Michael Coyle
Jun 18, 2026, 07:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 18, 2026, 09:18 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays rode a bullpen day to a 3-0 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night at Fenway Park. 
After the Blue Jays (36-38) placed projected starting pitcher Max Scherzer on the injured list hours before first pitch, the Blue Jays announced Braydon Fisher was going to get the start for the fifth time this season. 
Fisher tossed 1.1 hitless frames before Blue Jays manager John Schneider turned to Simeon Woods Richardson for the bulk role during the club’s second straight win. 
After throwing four shutout innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 8 during his first outing with the Blue Jays, Woods Richardson turned in three shutout frames. The right-hander worked around three hits and three walks to pick up his first win of the season. 
The Blue Jays acquired Woods Richardson from the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, June 3, in exchange for cash considerations, a return to the organization he spent two minor league seasons with after being part of the return for Marcus Stroman. Through 14 games (10 starts) this season, the 25-year-old is 1-7 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP across 54.2 innings pitched. 
From there, Schneider turned to Mason Fluharty, Spencer Miles, Jeff Hoffman, and Ty Rogers, who all picked up holds before handing the ball over to Louis Varland for the ninth inning. Varland struck out Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Willson Contreras on 10 pitches to record his 14th save of the season and lower his ERA to 0.90. 
For the second straight night, the Blue Jays received a spark from the bottom of their lineup. After Red Sox rookie starter Jake Bennett worked his way through two scoreless innings, Davis Schneider opened the top of the third inning with a double off the Green Monster for his fifth hit in the past three games. 
With Schneider on second, Andrés Giménez stepped up following a Myles Straw strikeout and brought Schneider home. Giménez stayed on a 3-2 changeup offering from Bennett to drive in his 32nd run of the season and give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead. 
Bennett hit leadoff batter George Springer before Giménez and Springer timed up a double steal to put runners on second and third base with one out for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Guerrero, who fell behind in the count 0-2 before working it back to 2-2 after taking two changeups below the zone. Bennett went to his fastball with his 2-2 offering, and Guerrero bounced a ball weakly to Red Sox third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa that allowed Giménez to come home to extend the Blue Jays’ lead to 2-0. 
Giménez once again played an integral role on the Blue Jays’ third run of the evening after opening the top of the eighth inning with a leadoff single off of Red Sox reliever Greg Weissert. After singling, Giménez stole his third base of the night, and 10th of the season, before advancing to third base on a flyball to right field by Springer. 
With a runner on third and one out, the Red Sox brought the infield in, which allowed Guerrero to dump a single over Red Sox second baseman Andruw Monasterio’s head to bring home Giménez and give the Blue Jays some much-needed insurance heading to the bottom of the eighth inning. 
Over the first two games of the series against the Red Sox, Giménez has caught fire, going 4-for-8 with one home run, two RBIs, and four runs scored. Through 70 games this season, Giménez is batting .232 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs and looks to be finding his stride after a tough month of May, when the 27-year-old batted .153. 
The Blue Jays will hand the ball to Trey Yesavage as they look to complete the series sweep on Thursday afternoon, while the Red Sox will counter with Sonny Gray. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m. EST at Fenway Park. 
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