BOSTON -- Mike Bolsinger's outing against the Red Sox on Tuesday night ended on a sour note, but not before he found a place in the Blue Jays' record books.
Bolsinger became the second pitcher in franchise history to strike out four batters in the same inning. He didn't allow a run for 3 1/3 frames until Boston's Hanley Ramirez spoiled everything with a walk-off homer that sent the Blue Jays to a 5-4 loss in 15 innings.
The 29-year-old Bolsinger struck out all four batters he faced in the 13th with Jackie Bradley Jr. reaching first base on a wild pitch. Steve Delabar is the only other pitcher in Toronto history to achieve the same feat when he struck out four on Aug. 13, 2012.
"That would be a first," said Bolsinger, who finished with six strikeouts. "I don't think I've seen it. That's the first time I've ever witnessed or seen it. It was fun."
The end of the game wasn't nearly as enjoyable for Bolsinger and the Blue Jays. He was saddled with the loss after Ramirez sent a curveball deep over the Green Monster for his 15th home run. Bolsinger might have been the pitcher of record, but in reality, he deserved a much better fate after retiring 10 of the 11 batters he faced until Ramirez's blast.
Bolsinger made a strong case that he should receive some consideration to become Toronto's permanent long reliever. The Blue Jays likely would want to make that happen as well, but it might not be that easy. Toronto used seven relievers Tuesday night and five of them threw more than one inning. Right-hander Dennis Tepera was the lone reliever who did not pitch.
Multiple roster moves are expected to be made Wednesday to get some fresh arms up from Triple-A Buffalo, and because of Bolsinger's heavy workload he's a logical candidate to become the odd man out. That's possibly one reason why Bolsinger approached pitching coach Pete Walker and told him he was ready to take the mound Wednesday.
"I feel fine," Bolsinger said. "I went up to Pete and told him if they need me to pitch an inning [Wednesday], it's something I can do. I've tried to make it known that I can pitch every day. It's something that's not new to me. I'm not a guy who is going to light up the radar gun, as you can see. I'm more of a finesse kind of guy. So for me, I don't put much effort into anything. So to go every day, I feel like it's something I can do. I felt good."
The bottom of the 13th began with Bolsinger striking out Mitch Moreland on five pitches. Bradley struck out on five pitches, but advanced when a ball in the dirt eluded catcher Russell Martin. That put the potential winning run on base, but Bolsinger bounced back by striking out Christian Vazquez on three pitches and Deven Marrero on four.
Bolsinger came back in the 14th and struck out Brock Holt to make it five strikeouts in a row, but his streak came to an end one batter later when Mookie Betts flew out to right field. Bolsinger then whiffed Andrew Benintendi to end the inning.
"That's as good as I've ever seen him. I tip my hat to the guy," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "Great job. I think that last one spun up there to Hanley but he did a tremendous job."