BOSTON _ These are not the sort of mistakes an American League playoff contender can afford.
The Blue Jays fit that description as of Saturday night. But it was the Red Sox who laughed last in what was a wild game at Fenway Park.
Yairo Munoz's infield chopper to the left side plated the winning run. Christian Vazquez was off on contact and slid across as Boston recorded its second walk-off victory of the season, a 9-8 thriller against Toronto.
The Red Sox entered the bottom of the ninth staring at an 8-7 deficit. That was erased quickly when Xander Bogaerts led off by taking Anthony Bass to the Monster Seats, a solo home run that tied the game. J.D. Martinez followed with a walk and Vazquez replaced pinch runner Jose Peraza at first when he grounded into a fielder's choice.
That's when the Blue Jays decided to aide in their own demise. Vazquez took off for second and Caleb Joseph bounced the throw into center field, allowing Boston's catcher to scamper all the way to third. Toronto brought the infield in and Travis Shaw made an inaccurate throw to the plate on a soft Munoz grounder to his left.
The Blue Jays wiped out a 6-2 deficit and seemed on the way to claiming victory in this rare five-game series thanks to a pair of three-run outbursts. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. grounded an infield single over the bag at second to cap the second, as Toronto held an 8-6 lead after the top of the seventh.
Josh Taylor entered with a four-run cushion in the sixth and retired just one of the first five men he faced. The fourth, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. smoked a drive off the light tower in left-center field for a three-run homer. That cut what seemed a comfortable Red Sox lead to just 6-5.
Toronto needed three batters to tie the game in the seventh. Randal Grichuk, Rowdy Tellez and Teoscar Hernandez produced consecutive singles and it was all even. Joe Panik's RBI double to the corner in right and the infield chopper by Gurriel gave the Blue Jays a pair of insurance runs.
Rafael Devers took one of those back when he slugged a leadoff homer to the bleachers in right leading off the bottom of the seventh. Devers had a chance to restore Boston's advantage when he came up again in the eighth, digging in with the bases loaded and two outs. He hit a liner up the middle to a shifted Jonathan Villar, who was over a few steps to his left from shortstop and made a routine grab.
Starter Ryan Weber left in line for the win after five solid innings, as the Red Sox enjoyed their early cushion. The right-hander became just the third Boston starter to finish the fifth inning this season, joining Nathan Eovaldi and Martin Perez. The Red Sox have handed the ball to 12 different men beginning their 41 games to date.
Hernandez led off the second with a solo homer to right against Weber and Shaw lined a double to the corner in right to chase home another in the fourth. Panik hit sharply into a 4-6-3 double play to end the fourth and Jackie Bradley Jr. came up with an outfield assist to help Weber escape the fifth. Villar was out at second trying to stretch a double on a liner off the Green Monster and Grichuk popped to first.
Boston built a working margin thanks to a hat trick of homers in the second. Martinez crushed a drive to left-center leading off and Bradley found the auxiliary visiting bullpen in deep right with a two-run shot to snap a 1-1 tie. Bobby Dalbec followed with the second of his career, a wicked liner down the line in left.
