In recent days. The Red Sox show bite in their fourth consecutive win

The team's late (too late?) turnaround continued Tuesday night at Rogers Centre. The Sox used every corner of their roster to erase a 3-0 deficit and send the game into overtime, where a three-run top of the 10th inning was followed by a struggling bottom of the inning that clinched a 6-5 victory over the Blue Jays.

With the win, the Sox improved their record to 80-78, extended their winning streak to four games (their longest since a five-game streak from June 30 to July 4), and clung to hope for a miracle with four games remaining and 3½ games between them and the Royals.

“We're not going to avoid a fight,” said Vaughn Grissom (3-for-4 with a double and a walk) after his best game with the Sox. “We're just going to keep our heads down, put pressure on and see what happens.”

After a lackluster start to the game, a late offensive from the Sox was needed. The Sox were stopped by Jays right-hander Francis Bowden, who went five scoreless innings while allowing only four baserunners.

In what will likely be his final outing of the 2024 season, Brayan Bello couldn't hold a candle to his counterpart, undermining his own performance in a 37-pitch third inning. The right-hander managed two walks, a one-out free pass to nine-hole hitter Joey Loperfido and a two-out walk to Nathan Lukes – which extended the inning for Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The result? Pain. Guerrero capped a seven-pitch at-bat by hitting a slider into the middle of the zone that bounced off the fence in left-center for a full count to bring both runners home and give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.

Although Bello didn't allow any further damage, the laborious third inning increased his pitch count and hastened the end of his 30th start in 2024. He left the field after four innings, having allowed two runs on two hits and two walks while recording four strikeouts.

Bello posted a 4.49 ERA in 30 starts and 162⅓ innings on the year after the appearance – numbers that suggest limited progress compared to his 2023 season (12-11, 4.24 in 28 starts and 157 innings). Still, his strong performance down the stretch (3.02 ERA in his last 9 starts) and his ability to strike out 30 times could serve as a foundation for bigger things in the years to come.

“That was my goal for this year,” Bello said through an interpreter about the 30-start plateau. “I want to keep competing and finish strong.”

With Bello out after four innings, the Sox were overwhelmed with the remaining outs. But while the night started off poorly for the bullpen, with Lucas Sims allowing one run in an inning to make it 3-0, the relievers didn't give up any more ground, as Justin Slaten, Luis García, Luis Guerrero and Chris Martin all pitched scoreless innings.

Their efforts, in turn, bought the offense time to do its work, starting with a two-out rally in the seventh inning against the Toronto bullpen. Two walks and an infield single by Danny Jansen loaded the bases, and Ceddanne Rafaela took advantage by sinking a hanging slider for a two-run single to bring the game to 3-2. In the process, the rookie recorded his 60th and 61st RBI of the year from the ninth spot in the lineup, tying Jason Varitek (2003) for the most RBIs by a Red Sox from the last spot in the order.

One inning later, the Sox tied the game 3-3 against left-hander Génesis Cabrera when singles by Romy Gonzalez and Triston Casas set up a fielder's choice RBI by Masataka Yoshida with one out, a rally that forced the game into overtime.

With the score tied 3-3 in the 10th inning and Jarren Duran as a zombie runner on second base, the Blue Jays decided to issue an intentional walk to Casas, setting up a righty-on-righty duel between Tommy Nance and Trevor Story. Story obviously took offense and hit a slider off the fence in left-center to score Duran and give the Sox a 4-3 lead.

After an RBI groundout by Connor Wong, Grissom capped his day with an RBI single to left that gave the Sox a 6-3 lead.

“In these great moments [I] feel confident [in] “I'm very good and I feel like I can play against anybody,” Grissom said. “When you give your team a chance to take the lead that late in the game, it's always awesome. … Obviously, I missed a lot of time and it was good to just go out there and compete with the guys and put ourselves in a good position.”

That three-run lead proved nearly insufficient, as Zach Penrod allowed an RBI double and a walk with one out. Chase Shugart came in and worked two walks – the second forcing a run – to earn his first career save and keep the team's hopes alive for another day.

“We put ourselves in this position and obviously it's not a perfect one,” manager Alex Cora said. “But for us it's just a matter of going out there and trying to make the best of it. The guys did a great job and fought until the end. We put everyone in and it was one of the most gratifying wins since I've been here.”

Alex Speier can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @alexspeier.