The Boston Red Sox successfully avoided a sixth straight loss on Thursday, which would have been their longest losing streak of the season.
Coming off five consecutive losses -- to the Athletics at Fenway Park over the weekend and three to the Toronto Blue Jays on the road -- the Red Sox salvaged Thursday's series finale against the Blue Jays with a 7-0 rout. They also avoided getting swept for the first time since mid-June.
After scoring just 14 runs over their previous five games, Boston's bats erupted for seven runs on 10 hits -- their most runs since last Friday.
The Red Sox grabbed an early lead on Willson Contreras' RBI double in the top of the first and never relinquished it. A pitching duel ensued between Max Scherzer and Payton Tolle, however, and the score remained 1-0 until the top of the eighth. That's when Caleb Durbin broke things open with a grand slam, finally giving Boston the spark it needed.
The Red Sox tacked on two runs in the ninth for good measure, ending the series on a high note and improving to 65-56. They'll look to carry over Thursday's win into their weekend series against the sputtering Pittsburgh Pirates, who are just 6-15 over their last 21 games.