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Tellez homers twice and Grichuk hits solo shot as Blue Jays dump Red Sox 10-3

May 21, 2019 | 8:42 PM

TORONTO — Rowdy Tellez hit two homers and drove in five runs as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox 10-3 on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Freddy Galvis scored two runs apiece and Randal Grichuk hit a solo homer for the Blue Jays, who gave starter Marcus Stroman plenty of run support for a change.

Stroman, who entered play with a major-league low average of 1.55 runs of support per nine innings — worked into the seventh inning for his second win of the year.

It was the first career multi-homer game for Tellez. The Blue Jays, who outhit Boston 11-7, have won three of their last five games.

Stroman (2-6) worked a 1-2-3 first inning and did well to escape the next two frames. Xander Bogaerts reached third base in the second before Stroman got Christian Vasquez to hit a comebacker to retire the side.

The Red Sox loaded the bases in the third but the Toronto right-hander fanned Mitch Moreland and Bogaerts, punctuating the last strikeout with a shimmy-shake as he trotted to the dugout.

Guerrero singled off lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (4-3) to lead off the fourth and came across on Tellez’s no-doubt blast inside the right-field foul screen. Grichuk, who had two runs on the night, followed with a solo shot just inside the other foul screen for his eighth homer of the year.

The Blue Jays (20-28) struck for three more runs in the fifth inning and Guerrero sparked the rally once again. He hit a two-out single and Justin Smoak walked before Tellez belted his eighth home run of the year.

The Red Sox (25-23) finally got to Stroman in the sixth inning as Moreland led off with a solo shot, his 13th homer of the season.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, lasted five innings, giving up six hits, six earned runs and two walks while striking out five.

Tyler Thornburg struggled in relief, giving up two walks, two singles and two earned runs before finally getting an out. He loaded the bases before catching Tellez looking for the strikeout.

Stroman’s 105-pitch outing ended two batters into the seventh. He had difficulty with control at times — walking six — but struck out four and allowed one earned run and five hits.

Brandon Drury added a two-run double in the bottom of the frame to help push Toronto’s run total to double digits. Rafael Devers and Jackie Bradley Jr., hit solo homers for Boston in the eighth inning. 

Announced attendance was 14,407 and the game took three hours 17 minutes to play.

Notes: After getting a much-discussed rest day in the series opener, Guerrero was 2-for-4 with an error. … Right-handers will square off Wednesday as Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez (3-4, 3.88 earned-run average) takes on Rick Porcello (3-4, 4.80). Neither team has confirmed its starter for Thursday’s series finale. … Before the game, the Blue Jays placed right-hander Ryan Tepera on the 10-day injured list with a right elbow inpingement and called up right-hander Jimmy Cordero from triple-A Buffalo.

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Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press