Blue Jays' comeback bid falls short in defeat to Red Sox on Canada Day

As Bo Bichette rounded third base the sold-out Rogers Centre crowd rose to its feet, cheering for what could have be the perfect ending to a come-from-behind Toronto Blue Jays victory on Canada Day.

But Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo fired a laser beam from right field, gunning down Bichette at home plate as Boston fended off a late Blue Jays rally for a 7-6 win on Saturday. Bichette said he didn't see any stop signs on the play.

"I knew the situation. For us to score a run I need to be aggressive and get there," said Bichette. "But also I knew that the ball was hit to their best thrower.

From Verdugo's vantage point, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s hard-hit double actually made it easier to field. Because it was obvious that George Springer would score from third, all Verdugo had to do was deal with the tying run that Bichette represented.

"Vladdy hit it hard. On the turf, the ball is skipping, so you know you're going to get it quicker," said Verdugo. "I didn't think [Bichette] was going to go."

Rafael Devers had an early two-run homer and later added an RBI single as Boston (42-42) improved to 6-0 against Toronto this season. Justin Turner had a home run and an RBI double and Masataka Yoshida also drove in a run.

The Blue Jays fell to 7-19 against American League East teams in 2023, even though they have a winning record against every other division in Major League Baseball.

"It sucks. It sucks losing. It's obviously six in a row against them," said Toronto manager John Schneider. "You know that, we know that, they know that.

"It's baseball. I was proud of the way that we fought back."

Kutter Crawford (3-4) held Toronto to two runs on three hits, striking out five over 5 2/3 innings. Josh Winckowski came on in relief and Kenley Jansen picked up the five-out save.

Yusei Kikuchi (7-3) had his worst outing in more than a month. He allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks, striking out seven over 4 2/3 innings.

"We understand that the Red Sox are part of the AL East and they're a division foe," said Kikuchi through translator Yusuke Oshima. "All we can do is focus on the next game and just go one game at a time."

Trevor Richards, Nate Pearson, Yimi Garcia and Erik Swanson came out of the Blue Jays bullpen, with Richards and Swanson each giving up a run.

Springer opened the scoring with his 12th home run of the season and 56th leadoff homer of his career. He's second in MLB history behind only Hall of Fame outfielder Rickey Henderson's 81.

Devers answered in the third, lofting a Kikuchi fastball 418 feet for his 20th home run, scoring Turner, for a 2-1 Sox lead.

Bichette tied it 2-2 in the bottom of the inning, drilling a knuckle curveball from Crawford for his 15th homer of the year.

Boston retook the lead when Turner's RBI double fell between Daulton Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier in the outfield. He reached base standing up as Rob Refsnyder scored.

Devers plated Turner again with his line drive in the next at bat to give Boston a 4-2 lead. That ended Kikuchi's outing, with the left-hander allowing the most runs in a start since giving up five in a 7-3 loss to Tampa Bay on May 24.

Richards came on in relief, coughing up a single to Yoshida that scored Devers. That run was also charged to Kikuchi.

Verdugo tacked on another run for the Red Sox in the sixth with his sacrifice fly that gave Christian Arroyo time to charge home for a 6-2 lead.

Chapman continued to chip away at the Red Sox's lead in the eighth with his two-run blast to deep right field. The 365-foot homer cashed in Guerrero.

Toronto's comeback hopes were damaged by Turner's home run in the ninth but the Blue Jays put themselves in a position to tie it again.

Springer singled with one out in the bottom of the ninth and Bichette moved him into scoring position with a double to right field. Brandon Belt struck out to bring Guerrero and a potential game-winning run to the plate.

Guerrero singled to right field to score Springer but Bichette was thrown out at home to end the game. A video review upheld the call on the field.

"The guys are good, man," said Schneider. "If they were rolling over and quit — which obviously, they're not doing — it's a different story. Today was just a tough loss."

On-field citizenship ceremony

It's going to take Robert Rohr quite a while to process his first day as a Canadian citizen.

Rohr was one of nine people who became Canadian citizens during pre-game festivities.

"I'll probably go home and wake up in the middle of the night sweating and be like, 'What the heck just happened?'," said Rohr, who emigrated from the United States. "It's absolutely amazing.

"It's an incredible honour to be to be invited here to do this."

Rohr and his self-described new best friends stood in front of the ballpark's mound, wearing red Blue Jays jerseys, as Immigration Minister Sean Fraser swore them in with two judges bearing witness.

The cohort then lined up with the Blue Jays along the third-base line for the national anthems, with members of the Royal Canadian Navy unfurling a large Canadian flag in the outfield. Their citizenship was made official when they sang "O Canada" along with the 41,813 fans in attendance.

Marsha Shandur, who was born in the United Kingdom, said it was important to her to gain Canadian citizenship so she could participate in the democracy where she lives.

"I think it's so important to be able to vote where you live and I want to be able to make a difference," said Shandur. "Vote to try and bring people in who are going to help make a difference when it comes to affordable housing, when it comes to the criminal justice system, maybe bring in proportional representation. I'm thrilled to be able to vote."

Both the Blue Jays and Red Sox watched the entire ceremony. Toronto manager John Schneider said he was moved by how his sport can unite people.

"Baseball is America's pastime, right? That's what everyone says. But to me baseball brings worlds together," said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. "Just look at the diversity around the league, within every team.

After members of the armed forces delivered baseballs to the new Canadians, they threw out the first pitch in unison to nine members of the Blue Jays roster.

Rohr said he was so focused on preparing for the citizenship ceremony that he neglected his pitching delivery.

"I haven't thrown a ball for 30 years, right? Thirty? Forty? Somewhere around there. A lot of years," said Rohr. "We were able to throw a couple of pitches against the wall and I was great. Just like right on.

"Then when it came to actually do it and nine people lined up and I had to to get it to the second [Blue Jays] from the end and I threw it and I hit the ground in front of the guy. But it's fine. That's fine."