BOSTON
Aaron Sanchez said he didn’t know — and didn’t care — that the Blue Jays had already clinched a spot in baseball’s postseason.
Toronto still had a chance to host the AL wild-card game, and Sanchez wanted the win.
“I wasn’t ready to go home,” he said after the Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 2-1 in the regular season finale on Sunday to claim the AL’s top wildcard berth. “For it to come down to (Game) 162, and me being out there … there was a lot at stake in that game. And it was in my hands.”
Sanchez took a no-hitter into the seventh, and Troy Tulowitzki singled to break an eighth-inning tie. Roberto Osuna retired David Ortiz on a weak nubber in front of the plate on the final regular season at-bat of his career, and then got Jackie Bradley Jr. on a groundout with two on to finish the game.
The Blue Jays had a muted celebration on the field, then popped champagne in the visitor’s clubhouse at Fenway Park.
“I’m (usually) straight-faced,” Tulowitzki said. “But that was fun out there.”
Toronto clinched a spot in the postseason when Detroit lost to Atlanta 1-0 earlier Sunday evening.
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