TORONTO (AP) - Michael Chavis got his team a win and his teammates some rest.
Rafael Devers joined an exclusive club of young Red Sox sluggers who have homered in three straight games, Chavis hit a tiebreaking homer in the 13th inning and Boston beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Wednesday night.
The teams conclude their four-game series with an afternoon finale on Thursday. It’s scheduled to start exactly 13 hours after Wednesday’s game ended at 11:37 p.m.
No wonder Chavis was so happy about his tiebreaking homer.
“Thank goodness,” he said of his reaction. “I knew it was getting late and I knew we had an early bus tomorrow for this day game. I got a lot of thank yous.”
Among those expressing gratitude was fellow slugger Mookie Betts.
“Super happy,” Betts said. “Try and get back and get some rest. Definitely good to get the win tonight.”
Boston improved to 10-3 in its past 13 road games. The Red Sox are 4-1 in extra innings.
“This is a big win for us,” Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello said. “We’ve got a chance to win the series tomorrow and that’s what we need to do.”
Devers led off the eighth with a blast to left off Derek Law, his sixth. It made Devers the sixth player in Red Sox history aged 22 or younger to homer in three straight games. The others are Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Carl Yastrzemski, Rico Petrocelli, and Jim Tabor.
But Marcus Walden couldn’t hold a 4-3 lead for Boston in the ninth. Brandon Drury hit a one-out double and pinch-hitter Danny Jansen sent the game to extra innings with a two-out single.
Toronto used two singles and an intentional walk to load the bases against Walden with one out in the 10th. Red Sox manager Alex Cora brought Betts in to play as a fifth infielder before Walden fanned Freddy Galvis for the second out. After Betts returned to right field, Walden escaped the jam by getting Drury to fly out.
Betts put Boston back on top by connecting off Joe Biagini in the 12th, his eighth, but Rowdy Tellez tied it again with a two-out drive off Heath Hembree in the bottom half.
Chavis restored Boston’s lead with a homer off Jimmy Cordero (0-1), making Hembree (1-0) the winner. Chavis has 10 homers and 25 RBIs in 28 games.
According to the team, the last time the Red Sox hit multiple go-ahead home runs in extra innings of the same game was April 29, 1951, at Philadelphia, when Dom DiMaggio and Tom Wright did it in the 11th and 12th innings.
Cordero, who was claimed off waivers from Washington on May 15, was making his Blue Jays debut.
Toronto has not won back-to-back games since a three-game sweep of Oakland from April 26-28. The Blue Jays are 6-15 since.
“It was a really good game,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “I’m proud of my guys for the game we played today against one of the best teams in baseball.”
Mitch Moreland had two RBIs, and Jackie Bradley Jr. and Betts each scored twice for the Red Sox, who have won three of four.
Toronto rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his first home run at Rogers Centre, but that was all the Blue Jays got against Porcello, who allowed three hits in six innings.
“Rick was outstanding,” Cora said.
Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez was forced to leave after three innings because of a blister in his previous start, May 17 against the White Sox, but said the blister didn’t bother him against Boston. Sanchez, who is winless in five starts, allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.
“I can’t wait for this finger issue to be behind me,” Sanchez said.
Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez was held out of the lineup because of a sore back. Martinez sat out the previous two games because of illness, but had been expected to return Wednesday. The two-time All-Star is hitting .308 with nine homers and 28 RBIs.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: Chavis remained in the game after being hit on the helmet by a pitch from Sanchez in the sixth. … INF Brock Holt (right eye) went 1 for 3 with a walk in his second straight rehab name for Triple-A Pawtucket. 2B Dustin Pedroia (left knee) went 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
Blue Jays: Guerrero rolled his right ankle breaking out of the box on a bloop single in the sixth. He had the ankle taped between innings and remained in the game.
POWER SURGE
All five of Guerrero’s home runs have come within the past eight days. The only other player aged 20 or younger to hit his first five homers within 10 days was Frank Robinson, who did it in 1956.
PUERTO RICAN PRIDE
When their teams met at Fenway Park last month, Montoyo and Cora became the first pair of Puerto Rican managers to oppose one another. Wednesday’s game also featured another Puerto Rican, home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz. The three men posed for a pregame photograph.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: RHP Ryan Weber will make his first start for Boston in Thursday’s series finale. Weber hasn’t started since 2017, when he faced Toronto for Seattle. Weber left that start after 3 2/3 innings because of a sore shoulder.
Blue Jays: LHP Clayton Richard is expected to come off the injured list and make his season debut Thursday. Richard has not pitched this season because of a stress reaction in his right knee.
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