Boston’s Xander Bogaerts is congratulated by J.D. Martinez after his three-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth inning Tuesday night at Boston. Winslow Townson/Associated Press
BOSTON — Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run home run to back Eduardo Rodríguez in his first start at Fenway Park since 2019, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Rodríguez (3-0), who missed last season due to COVID-19 complications, allowed two runs on three hits over six innings and struck out six for AL East-leading Boston.
Matt Andriese, Adam Ottavino and Matt Barnes each worked a scoreless inning in relief. Barnes earned his third save.
Rodríguez was pulled after allowing his second homer of the day, a towering leadoff shot by Randal Grichuk leading off the seventh. Bo Bichette also homered for the Blue Jays, who have lost three straight.
Toronto ace Hyun Jin Ryu (1-2) lasted five innings, giving up eight hits, four runs and striking out two.
Trailing 4-2 in the eighth, the Blue Jays had a runner on third with two outs, but Bichette struck out.
Rodríguez received a warm greeting from the pandemic-limited Fenway crowd of 4,728. It was a small consolation prize for the left-hander, who missed out on scheduled Opening-Day starts each of the past two seasons.
He still appeared to feed off the home fans’ energy, hurling a 95 mph fastball to strike out Bichette looking in the first inning.
Rodríguez cruised through his first three innings, allowing only a walk.
In the fourth, Bichette jumped on a first-pitch cutter and drove it over the Green Monster to put the Blue Jays in front 1-0.
Christian Arroyo and J.D. Martinez singled ahead of Bogaerts’ blast to left-center in the bottom of the inning. Marwin Gonzalez doubled later in the fourth and Bobby Dalbec drove him in with a triple.
NOTES: Left-hander Chris Sale will report to the team’s spring training facility in Fort Myers, Florida, on Sunday to continue his rehabilitation following Tommy John surgery in March of 2020. “It’s just a matter of time of when he gets on the mound. We’ll go from there,” Manager Alex Cora said. … Cora was delayed getting to the ballpark, saying before the game that he had issues with his COVID-19 test results. “Some testing didn’t go the way it should have gone,” Cora said, adding that he was tested multiple times.
Cora is scheduled to receive his second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday.
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