Red Sox drop under .500 after huge misplay in center field dooms them

Ceddanne Rafaela has the reputation for being an excellent center fielder but he misjudged Daulton Varsho’s 341-foot line drive with two outs in the ninth. Rafaela started in and the ball sailed over his head. The game should have ended. Instead, Varsho’s RBI triple tied it 2-2.

The Blue Jays then won it in the 13th inning on Whit Merrifield’s two-out, 61 mph infield single. Devers charged in to field it but had no play as the automatic runner, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., scored from third base. Devers didn’t attempt a throw to first base.

The Red Sox’s 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays dropped them under .500 (74-75) for the first time since June 30.

Both teams failed to score in the 10th and 11th innings. Boston finally broke through in the 12th inning. Pablo Reyes’ one-out RBI single to center scored Alex Verdugo, the automatic runner, to make it 3-2. But the Blue Jays tied it in the bottom half of the inning on Bo Bichette’s RBI sac fly.

The Sox couldn’t score in the top of the 13th despite getting a runner to third with one out.

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Red Sox starter Chris Sale pitched 6-plus innings and allowed one run, two hits and two walks while striking out 10. He didn’t allow a hit until Alejandro Kirk’s single to right field with two outs in the fifth inning. But Alex Verdugo threw out Kirk trying to extend his single into a double.

The other hit was a solo homer. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a 367 foot homer to left field. Guerrero connected on a 78.8 mph slider outside the strike zone and cut Toronto’s deficit to 2-1.

Sale’s slider was his best pitch despite the solo homer against it. He threw it 37 times and recorded 10 swings and misses with it. He also threw 27 four-seam fastballs and 17 changeups. His four-seam averaged 91.4 mph and topped out at 94.0 mph, per Baseball Savant.

The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning. Wilyer Abreu walked to open the inning and stole second. Rafael Devers then blasted a 363-foot two-run home run to left field. It left his bat at 104.5 mph.

Josh Winckowski replaced Sale with no outs in the seventh. He recorded two outs but walked the bases loaded. Brennan Bernardino replaced Winckowski with two outs in the seventh and escaped when he got Ernie Clement to pop out to second base.

Chris Martin pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Bo Bichette and Guerrero singled off him to put runners at the corners with one out. But Martin retired Davis Schneider on a lineout to right field and struck out Santiago Espinal swinging to escape the jam.

The Red Sox and Blue Jays will play again Sunday at 1:37 p.m. Boston righty Nick Pivetta (9-9, 4.56 ERA) will start opposite Toronto lefty Hyun Jin Ryu (3-3, 2.93 ERA).