Ernie Clement blasts tiebreaking homer in ninth to cap Blue Jays' rally past Dodgers to increase AL East lead

Boston Globe

16 hours ago

As a result, the AL-best Blue Jays (69-50) now own a four-game lead over the Red Sox (65-54). The Red Sox also lost hold of the top AL Wild Card slot, as the streaking Mariners (winners of seven straight) are now a game up on the Sox.
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For the Blue Jays, Mason Fluharty earned his first career save in spectacular fashion after replacing erratic closer Jeff Hoffman in the ninth with the bases loaded and one out. The rookie left-hander struck out Ohtani with a full-count breaking ball before getting Mookie Betts on a game-ending grounder.
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Flu Game.
Take a bow, Mason 👏
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays)
After Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a tying homer and Addison Barger followed with a go-ahead shot for Toronto off struggling Blake Treinen in the eighth inning, Clement hit the first pitch from Alex Vesia (2-2) in the ninth into the left-field bleachers.
FIRST. PITCH. AMBUSH.
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays)
Hoffman (7-4) walked Freddie Freeman with the bases loaded to blow Toronto's lead in the eighth, and he walked three of the Dodgers' first four batters in the ninth.
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Ohtani drove Eric Lauer's fourth pitch 400 feet. The three-time MVP's third homer in four games tied him with Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber for the NL lead.
Back-to-back days with a homer from Shohei!
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers)
Freeman also homered in the first. Ohtani had two hits and was intentionally walked twice.
The Dodgers' bullpen wasted another strong start by Tyler Glasnow, who yielded two runs on four hits and four walks while pitching into the sixth and striking out eight. Glasnow's winless streak stretched to 10 starts since March 31 despite his 1.82 ERA since coming off the injured list.
The Red Sox, though, still sit 2½ games up on the Yankees for the second Wild Card slot, after Houston won, 7-1, in front of upset fans at the Stadium.
Jason Alexander pitched one-hit ball through six innings, and Jose Altuve hit his 250th career homer to power Astros.
Alexander (3-1) allowed his first hit in the sixth inning, a one-out single to Cohasset's Ben Rice. Alexander did not allow a run for the second straight start. He walked three and struck out three in a game in which he relied mostly on changeups and sinkers over 87 pitches.
Altuve, as designated hitter, homered to left in the first and became the 11th player whose primary position is second base to reach 250 homers.
Altuve had two hits and scored three runs, including on a double by Christian Walker in the third and on a single by Ramón Urías that fell in between shortstop Anthony Volpe and left fielder Cody Bellinger in the ninth.
Rookie Cam Smith had a two-out bases-loaded single that scored two runs in the fifth to help the Astros win for the fourth time in six games.
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Max Fried (12-5) allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings and lost for the third time in four starts. The Yankees managed three hits and lost for the seventh time in nine games and were booed after the final out.
Manager Aaron Boone was ejected for the fifth time this season after arguing a called strike on Ryan McMahon in the third inning.
The Astros next welcome the Red Sox to Houston. They did not announce a starter for the series opener Monday, against Sox ace Garrett Crochet (13-4, 2.24). The Yankees, meanwhile, host Minnesota starting Monday, and the Blue Jays host the Cubs in a series that begins Tuesday.