Red Sox fall to 12-25 at Fenway Park after being swept by Blue Jays

Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald on Jun 18, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — Thursday’s series finale between the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays ended in the top of the seventh.

Not due to rain, or some act of a higher power, but because Nathan Lukes’ leadoff home run increased the Blue Jays’ lead to 3-0, and the Red Sox entered the day 0-31 in games in which the opponent leads by three runs at any point, and 1-36 whenever they trailed by any margin after the seventh inning.

Two innings later, the final tally on the oldest scoreboard in Major League Baseball read: Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3.

A rare late rally — Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Caleb Durbin homering back-to-back to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth — made Boston’s 32nd loss in a game in which they trailed by three runs at any point particularly gruesome.

That veteran right-hander Sonny Gray allowed Toronto to take a 1-0 lead on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s one-out home run in the top of the first was/seemed largely beside the point, even though the Red Sox are 9-31 when opponents score first.

The Red Sox, held to one run in Tuesday’s series opener and scoreless in Wednesday’s game, would have needed a miracle to overcome Blue Jays star righty Trey Yesavage, and miracles have been in short supply this season. Yesavage made a bid for perfection in the first three innings and held Boston to one baserunner, Mickey Gasper, until Ceddanne Rafaela led off the seventh with a double just fair down the left-field line.

But then, a flurry of miracles. Blue Jays left-fielder Yohendrick Piñango doubled with two outs in the eighth, but Rafaela gunned from center to the plate, and catcher Connor Wong’s Superman dive came just in time to tag out George Springer. Kiner-Falefa led off the bottom of the inning with a 360-foot home run to the left-field corner of the Green Monster, and Durbin followed with a sky-high blast to the National Car Rental sign atop the Monster.

Boston’s first back-to-back home runs since May 26 had tied the game. And after getting Wong to ground out, Yesavage was finally gone. The Jays starter lasted 7 1/3 innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits, but nearly all the damage was clustered at the end. His 96-pitch performance (66 strikes) included six strikeouts and zero walks.

Gasper quickly created a lead-taking opportunity with a two-out single off righty Tommy Nance, but Rafaela grounded out to end the inning.

Out came closer Aroldis Chapman for a rare high-stakes top of the ninth at Fenway and just his third appearance of the month.

It did not go well. Ernie Clement led off with an infield dribbler shallow enough to allow him to reach first base with a single. Chapman retired Lukes on a first-pitch pop-out in foul territory, and struck out Kazuma Okamoto on four pitches, but Clement’s reach proved costly when Brandon Valenzuela won a nine-pitch battle with an RBI double off the Monster.

It marked Chapman’s first run allowed since April 4. And the Red Sox were back to where they started, behind.

Mason Fluharty breezed through a brutal bottom of the ninth. Wilyer Abreu flew out on the second pitch. Willson Contreras and Jarren Duran made the second and final outs on one pitch apiece.

The Red Sox are 12-25 at home, and 6-17 against their American League East foes.

Gray day

Gray’s start was solid despite some early frustrations. But frustration is nothing new to these Red Sox, especially at Fenway. It has been the name of the game for the home-field disadvantaged Boston ball club, an immovable storm cloud hovering all season.

The home team’s ire was on display throughout the early innings. Andruw Monasterio flung both bat and helmet after striking out to end Yesavage’s third perfect inning. And boos rained down from the semi-crowded stands in the bottom of the fourth when Wilyer Abreu’s one-out flyout to center was too shallow to score Gasper, who had ended Yesavage’s bid for perfection with a leadoff ground-rule double and advanced third on Rafaela’s sacrifice bunt.

Toronto tacked on a second run in the top of the second when Okamoto doubled with one out, advanced to third on Valenzuela’s single, and scored on Andres Gimenez’s sacrifice fly; the Red Sox entered Thursday 1-38 whenever opponents take a two-run lead at any point in a game.

Gray then set the Jays down in order in the third, fourth and fifth. He worked around Jesus Sanchez’s leadoff single in a four-batter sixth, and retired three Jays in order after Lukes’ homer in the seventh. Gray allowed three earned runs on six hits, walked one and struck out four, and needed 89 pitches (63 strikes) to complete seven innings.