Isaiah Kiner-Falefa smashed his inaugural home run as a member of the Blue Jays during the second inning, contributing to a three-run surge that propelled Toronto to a 5-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Friday’s spring training matchup.
Kiner-Falefa’s two-run homer, bringing Daniel Vogelbach home, provided Toronto with an early advantage. Shortly after, Addison Barger doubled twice to bring in runs, extending Toronto’s lead to 3-0.
Enmanuel Valdez narrowed the lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning with a solo home run against Jays starter Mitch White.
Toronto extended their lead to 5-1 in the sixth inning, with Barger batting in John Kasevich with a double and later scoring on Garrett Spain’s single.
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In the ninth inning, Blue Jays pitcher Trevor Richards found himself in a precarious situation as a single by Nick Decker, a walk to Luis Ravelo, and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with only one out. However, he managed to strike out Alex Binelas and induce a fly out from Miguel Ugueto, securing the victory.
White pitched 5⅔ innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits while striking out six, earning the win for Toronto and evening their preseason record at 13-13. Boston’s starter Justin Hagenman took the loss after conceding three earned runs over two innings.
Toronto has four exhibition games remaining, beginning Saturday afternoon in Dunedin against Detroit, before opening their regular season on Thursday against Tampa Bay.