Woeful Red Sox concede inside-the-park grand slam in record 28-5 loss to Jays

Raimel Tapia put his head down and started a slow jog to first base, not sure he’d gotten the pop he wanted when he drove a bases-loaded fly ball to deep center field in the third inning. Then everything about the play and the rest of the night changed.

Tapia hit an inside-the-park grand slam after a misplay by Boston center fielder Jarren Duran and the Toronto Blue Jays set a franchise record for runs in a game, rolling past the Red Sox 28-5 on Friday night.

Raimel Tapia INSIDE-THE-PARK GRAND SLAM! pic.twitter.com/7DQz5jlL2S

Toronto came within two of the modern major league record for runs in a game after stranding two runners in the ninth inning with Boston infielder Yolmer Sanchez on the mound. Every Blue Jays starter had at least two hits, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr tied Frank Catalanotto’s franchise record with six of them. Danny Jansen homered twice and drove in six runs. Matt Chapman and Teoscar Hernandez added solo homers for Toronto, who topped their previous single-game mark of 24 runs set in June 1976 against the Baltimore Orioles.

“That was awesome,” interim manager John Schneider said. “We talked about it before the game, how you can come out a little bit sleepy and you can came out hot. I think we came out hot, obviously.”

The 28 runs are the most ever yielded by a Red Sox team, eclipsing the previous mark in a 27-3 loss to Cleveland in 1923. The Fenway Park faithful jeered throughout the night except for a wedding proposal on the video board with the home team trailing 25-3. The woman’s “yes” was one of the few times Boston fans found reason to cheer.

Toronto entered the day with a two-game lead over the Red Sox for the AL’s final wildcard spot. The Red Sox have lost their last three games by scores of 14-1,