BOSTON -- Four games. That’s all it has taken Jordan Romano to make his mark on the Blue Jays bullpen.

Even after allowing the walk-off home run to Christian Vázquez in the Blue Jays’ 7-5, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox, the rookie reliever has shown enough since making his debut on June 12 to prove his value.

• Box score

“Romano was outstanding today,” Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo said. “That was fun to watch. He’s part of our future. Now we know he has a power arm, and he’s not afraid.”

Romano struck out five in just 1 2/3 innings of relief, fanning Andrew Benintendi, All-Star Game finalist J.D. Martinez, Brock Holt, Michael Chavis and Jackie Bradley Jr. He battled Holt with a nine-pitch at-bat before striking out the above-.300 hitter with a four-seam fastball in the bottom of the ninth.

“I felt pretty good,” Romano said. “No one wants to get walked off, it’s a pretty bad feeling, but I’m happy with the way I pitched. My M.O. is, I attack guys, I go after them. I thought I did a pretty good job of that tonight, and unfortunately just got beat on that last hitter there.”

Romano has been aggressive from the start. He became the eighth player in Blue Jays’ history to strike out his first two batters faced. During Wednesday’s 11-6 loss, he fanned Angels stars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in consecutive at-bats.

“He was lights out,” starter Trent Thornton said of Romano. “He’s a lot of fun to watch. He pitches really, really well. His fastball’s electric. It’s baseball. [Giving up a run] is going to happen. He’s going to keep his head up and keep going out there. He’s got all the confidence in the world right now, striking out everybody.”

The 26-year-old righty cites his move from the starting rotation to the bullpen as a boost in his performance. He no longer has to hold back to sustain his arm for long outings. When it comes time to take the mound, he’s ready to go full speed ahead.

“My intent out of the bullpen is a little higher than with starting,” Romano said. “I’m throwing every pitch with max intent. I kind of like the bullpen. I like the bigger situations. It helps me focus a little bit more, kind of like every pitch matters.”

Romano isn’t going to let a walkoff home run change his approach or confidence. The next opportunity he gets, he’s sticking with his game plan.

“I feel like if I keep doing that same thing, I’ll be OK -- just attacking hitters,” he said. “Of course I’ll get beat the occasional time, like tonight, but I feel like going forward if I just stick to that plan I’ll be OK.”

The Blue Jays agree.

“He’s not afraid,” Montoyo said. “I’m really happy to see that arm.”

‘We played a good game’

The numbers on the box score tell of a strong night for the Blue Jays: Four hits by Eric Sogard. Three hits and three RBIs from Randal Grichuk. Seven strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings for Thornton. Romano’s five K’s.

“We played a good game against one of the best teams in baseball,” Montoyo said. “You get frustrated when you lose on a walk-off, but we played a great game yesterday and another great game today. We were right there until the end.”

Leadoff batter Sogard tied his career-high with four hits, a mark he last reached on May 18, 2017. He has collected multiple hits in eight of his last 10 games.

Grichuk belted his team-high 14th home run off Boston starter Chris Sale as part of his fourth three-hit game of the season.

Thornton has given up only two runs in his last 13 innings and leads Major League rookies with 87 strikeouts, the most for a Blue Jay prior to the All-Star break since Mark Eichhorn in 1986.

The Blue Jays dropped to 3-5 in extra innings on the year. They entered the game undefeated (21-0) when leading after the seventh.