DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Jose Bautista hit a long home run for the Toronto Blue Jays in a 6-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.
Bautista's first-inning drive off Henry Owens easily cleared the 333-foot mark in left field and landed in a patch of oak trees. The five-time All-Star batted .286 with 35 homers and 103 RBIs in 155 games last season.
Toronto starter Aaron Sanchez allowed three runs on grounders by Brock Holt and Daniel Nava in the third and a sacrifice fly from Allen Craig in the sixth. The right-hander yielded four hits, walked one and struck out three in 5 1-3 innings.
Manager John Gibbons said though the team had originally planned for the 22-year-old to start the season in the bullpen, it likely doesn't have much of a choice but to put him in the rotation after Marcus Stroman's season-ending knee injury last Tuesday.
"I think he's pretty much locked in to where he is now," Gibbons said. "That could change, but I would be very surprised by that."
Danny Valencia added a two-run homer for the Blue Jays in the fourth.
