The Boston Red Sox Wednesday, April 21, 2021 * The Boston Globe Big fourth inning keeps Red Sox, Eduardo Rodriguez on winning track Julian McWilliams The Red Sox knew the Toronto Blue Jays were a dangerous bunch heading into Tuesday. For the last two years, the group led by young talent Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette lurked in the shadows of the American League East. When the Jays signed George Springer to a lucrative free-agent deal this past offseason — though he’s currently on the injured list — in addition to adding Marcus Semien, it showed that the Blue Jays were ready to compete. A 2020 playoff berth certainly moved that needle, too. “They have a great team,” manager Alex Cora said. “They are where they want to be. It took them a while, but it feels like that young talent is finally all together.” The Red Sox beat the Jays, 4-2, in the first of a two-game set at Fenway Park. Matt Barnes shut the door in the ninth, getting Cavan Biggio to fly out to Alex Verdugo in left as the tying run. But it wasn’t an easy one. The Red Sox hitters didn’t get to Hyun Jin Ryu in the first three innings, the Toronto starter needing only 29 pitches and surrendering just two hits. In the top of the fourth inning, Eduardo Rodriguez surrendered a light-tower solo shot to Bichette to give the Jays the lead. Yet the Sox, as they have in this small sample of a season, have proven themselves not to be an easy out. Though Ryu came into the contest sporting a 1.89 ERA in his three starts, he hadn’t faced a lineup this hot, the Red Sox leading the majors in runs scored (100), batting average (.287), OPS (.817), and doubles (43). As the lineup turned over, Christian Arroyo led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. The next hitter, J.D. Martinez, collected a single of his own, too. That set the stage for Bogaerts. Down 1-2 in the count, after Ryu had worked in a four-seamer and two cutters, he tried to beat Bogaerts with another four-seamer, this one high and tight. Bogaerts was all over it, belting a no-doubter deep into the Fenway sky to put the Red Sox up, 3-1. It was his first homer of the season. “It’s good to get the first one out of the way,” Bogaerts said. “I wasn’t trying to get anything. That whole inning Alex Cora predicted, to be honest with you.” The manager, apparently, told his team that Martinez would get a hit and Bogaerts would homer. “I was like, ‘You talking about me? I don’t have a home run at all,’ ” Bogaerts joked. After a Christian Vázquez strikeout, Marwin Gonzalez doubled. With two out, Bobby Dalbec laced an RBI triple over Randal Grichuk’s head in center to make it 4-1. What once looked like yet another dominant start for Ryu wasn’t. He was lifted after five innings, leaving his team to play from behind. Rodriguez, meanwhile, worked through six innings, striking out six against two hits and a walk. This is the second time in Rodriguez’s career that he’s made three straight starts allowing no more than one walk. The last was August of 2015. “I feel really good with everything, all my pitches,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like my body is right where it needs to be.” The Sox allowed him to start the seventh, but a Grichuk solo shot to lead off the inning forced Cora to go to Matt Andriese. It was Rodriguez’s first start at Fenway in 19 months, and the first time he had pitched past the fifth this season. That the Red Sox could win by such a convincing margin Monday, 11-4, to close out the Chicago White Sox, then turn around and win a nail-biter affirms another Cora prediction, this one dating back to spring training. “I’m going to repeat myself. We have a good baseball team,” Cora said. “Very balanced. We made some good plays defensively today. We put together good at-bats. Seems like we just finish games right from the first pitch all the way to the end.” Alex Cora clears COVID-19 protocols in time for Tuesday’s game vs. Blue Jays Julian McWilliams Red Sox manager Alex Cora made it through COVID-19 health and safety protocols in time for the start of the team’s Tuesday game against the Toronto Blue Jays, following an unspecified issue involving the virus. After the Red Sox’ 4-2 win, Cora said he had to spend Monday night in a hotel away from his family. Cora arrived at Fenway Park around 4:40 p.m., 2½ hours before scheduled first pitch, and was present for batting practice. He held his pregame media availability via Zoom from his home, sharing only that “there was a situation last night.” “So we have to go through the whole thing and we are just waiting for one more step, and hopefully I can be at Fenway,” Cora said. Cora stressed he was not sick with the virus. He has had one vaccination shot, and is scheduled to have his second shot Wednesday. When asked if he received a false positive on a recent COVID-19 test, Cora wouldn’t label it as such. “I don’t want to call it a false positive,” Cora said. “I think they use another term. Something else. But let’s say that I have tested and things are trending in the right direction in the last 24 hours.” During spring training, Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes initially tested positive for COVID-19, but the result was ultimately categorized as a non-infectious positive, which allowed Barnes to return to the field. Better days ahead for Bobby Dalbec? Bobby Dalbec put together a 14-pitch plate appearance against Lucas Giolito in Monday’s 11-4 win against the Chicago White Sox. It ended in a walk, and helped spike Giolito’s pitch count to 46 that inning. “We believe that when you start walking, good things happen,” Cora said after the game. “He fouled off some tough pitches throughout the at-bat and was able to win that battle. It was fun to watch and he was outstanding.” Dalbec was hitting .214 entering Tuesday, striking out a whopping 17 times in 46 plate appearances. Slugging just .310 with a .592 OPS, he has yet to hit a homer. Yet Cora has stuck with the rookie, playing Dalbec in 14 of the team’s 18 contests, including Tuesday. That ended up paying dividends for the Sox. Dalbec was 2 for 3 against the Blue Jays with an RBI triple. He’s now hitting .244. Like most rookies, Cora believes there’s a learning curve Dalbec must endure. “I feel like I’ve been hitting the ball hard and had some tough luck, and then there’s been days where I just don’t have it. But overall, I feel pretty good,” Dalbec said. “I think the numbers will show that I’ve had pretty, pretty poor luck, but you know, can’t control that. So I just got to keep working every day.” Dalbec’s expected batting average, which takes into account what a batter might hit with typical league average results based on launch angle and exit velocity, was .308 before Tuesday. He has squared up the ball 20 percent of the time, which rated in the top 6 percent of the league. The strikeouts will always be there; his 37-percent rate before Tuesday was in the bottom 4 percent of the league. Nevertheless, perhaps a closer glance at the numbers indicate that more hits are on the horizon for the young power hitter. Dalbec has played a huge role in the field for the Sox, seemingly learning first base — not his natural position — on the fly. It’s been easy to fit in with this Sox squad, too, he said. Dating back to spring training, Dalbec said this group of guys fit really well. “It’s a really fun group to be around,” Dalbec said. “Everyone’s always working, always talking about what’s going on, who we’re playing that day. But keeping it light at the same time. It’s a fun team to be around right now.” Chris Sale lets it fly Chris Sale was on the field four hours before the game for his latest throwing session, and if he was holding back, it wasn’t much. In a pitching motion while on the grass in right field, Sale was throwing smoothly and with good velocity. Cora said Sale would return to the team’s complex in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sunday to continue his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery. Sale has yet to throw off a mound, but is moving closer to that key check point in his comeback. “He feels like everything is going the right way now,” Cora said. “He feels a lot stronger, and the progression is going the right way.” Sale has been with the major league team since Opening Day, something Cora said was a positive for all concerned. “Mentally he’s in a great place,” Cora said. “Physically he feels great. Now it’s just a matter of when he’s going to get on the mound and go from there” . Kiké Hernández received his World Series ring from the Dodgers.