Duran leads off with 20th homer, Red Sox stop skid with 6-3 win over Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yariel Rodríguez watches Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran (16) drive a home run ball during the first inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston -

Jarren Duran led off with a homer, Masataka Yoshida added a two-run single in a three-run first inning, and the Boston Red Sox ended a four-game losing streak with a 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

David Hamilton, Triston Casas and Wilyer Abreu also drove in runs for Boston, which had not won since beating Houston last Wednesday.

Boston also ended the Blue Jays’ five-game winning streak. Toronto has still won 10 of its last 15, placing the team on the verge of climbing from the bottom of the AL East standings with one month left to play.

Will Wagner hit his first career homer for Toronto and Daulton Varsho hit a solo shot in the ninth.

Duran hit his 20th homer of the season, driving an 0-1 fastball from Yariel Rodríguez to right. Boston added three more in the fifth when Hamilton hit an RBI single, Casas drove in a run with a double and Abreu added an RBI single.

Wagner hit his homer in the sixth, taking a sinker from Brennan Bernadino out to right-center and cutting Boston’s lead to 6-2. Varsho hit his 16th in the ninth, taking Jansen to the deepest part of the ballpark.

Cooper Criswell pitched 3 1/3 innings for Boston, allowing one run on five hits and three walks. He also hit two batters. Greg Weissert (3-2) got the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Rodríguez (1-6) allowed six earned runs on eight hits over five innings. He struck out three and walked one.

Boston catcher Danny Jansen, who made history Monday when he played for the Red Sox in a game he started for Toronto before it was suspended because of weather June 26, helped stop two runs with some nice defence.

Jansen tagged out Joey Loperfido at the plate as he tried to slide under the tag and score on a double by Wagner in the second.

In the fourth, Ernie Clement tried unsuccessfully to get around Jansen after tagging up on a fly to deep right by George Springer. Abreu’s throw was on target and in time to complete the unusual inning-ending double play.

Back again

The Red Sox have Rich Hill on the roster again, selecting the 44-year-old lefty from Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday. Hill has a chance to add a little more history to a lengthy career. One outing in 2024 would make him the only active player to appear in a game in each of the past 20 seasons.

Trainer's room

Red Sox: 3B Rafael Devers had the night off because of shoulder soreness. … Placed RHP Lucas Sims (right lat strain) on the 15-day injured list and designated RHP Brad Keller for assignment. The Red Sox added Hill to the active roster and recalled RHP Greg Weissert from Worcester.

Up next

RHP Chris Bassitt (9-12, 4.41 ERA) is slated to start Wednesday night for the Blue Jays, facing RHP Brayan Bello (11-6, 4.95) for the Red Sox.