Walker Buehler put his best foot forward in the Boston Red Sox's April 10 4-3 walk-off win against the Toronto Blue Jays. Many of his teammates, however, struggled.
In his most dominant start in a Red Sox uniform to date, Buehler clocked seven strikeouts and a walk in 6.1 innings of one-run baseball. He accrued an 8.68 ERA with seven strikeouts over 9.1 innings in his first two starts with Boston but showed significant improvement with a sweep on the line.
The Sox and Jays only mustered two runs apiece in nine innings — the entire four-game series was rough for both teams at the plate. Boston struck first after an Alex Bregman single scored Jarren Duran from third base in the sixth inning. Toronto quickly followed with two runs in the seventh frame. Tyler Heineman singled to score Will Wagner, Buehler's lone walk, and Myles Straw scored on the next at-bat.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tapped a fielder's choice single to the middle infield, and Kristian Campbell grabbed it near the second base bag. That's all he did. The rookie flipped the ball to a fast-approaching Trevor Story, who misfired a throw to Triston Casas at first base on an attempted double play.
Wilyer Abreu also made an error on a throw to the infield, but no run scored as a result of the play. The Red Sox, yet again, lead MLB in errors with 14 miscues in 14 games and 10 in their seven-game homestand.
Red Sox claim extra innings win against Blue Jays despite errors and lagging bats
Got it done! pic.twitter.com/MofLeybINI
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 10, 2025
Luckily, the Sox were the beneficiaries of some errors from the Jays, especially since their bats were so quiet until extras. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Rob Refsnyder reached on a throwing error by Wagner and later tied the game at two when he scored from third base on a throwing error by pitcher Yimi Garcia.
Toronto scored in the top of the 10th inning to take a 3-2 advantage, but it didn't last. The following frame, Jarren Duran singled to score Blake Sabol, the ghost runner on second base. Rafael Devers singled in the next at-bat, and pitcher Nick Sandlin plunked both Bregman and Casas to load the bases.
Story then made up for his seventh-inning gaffe. The shortstop tapped a dribbling single to the infield and the speedy David Hamilton, pinch-running for Devers, charged home for the winning run. The Red Sox successfully staved off a sweep, but it wasn't pretty in any regard.
The Sox got lucky against the Blue Jays. Had their opponents played their usual, tighter defense and Buehler not rebounded, Boston likely would've been swept immediately after sweeping the Cardinals in their home opening series.
Buehler was, as he tends to be, cool under pressure, and the threat of a sweep was enough to raise him to his 2024 postseason self when he posted 10 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts en route to a World Series win with the Dodgers. Red Sox could take a lesson or two from his playbook after another game marked by errors and double-digit strikeouts.