Napoli Returns From The Abyss With Clutch 2-Run HR But Red Sox Still Fall 4-3 in 10

Moral victories are for losers but I feel like if the Red Sox are going to go anywhere the rest of this season, they can take something (Mike Napoli not striking out in a key spot) from tonight's 4-3 loss in 10 innings to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Boston (72-50 overall, 33-29 road) couldn't win its second extra innings game in as many nights but Toronto (55-65 overall, 30-32 home) made it way tougher on themselves than it had to be.

The Red Sox were down to their last out in the ninth but Napoli cranked a two-run opposite field home run, his 15th of the season, against Brett Cecil. The Blue Jays bounced back by scoring the winning run in the 10th on Brett Lawrie's infield single which plated Rajai Davis (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 doubles).

Scrub Esmil Rogers completely flummoxed Boston for six innings: one earned run on five hits with six strikeouts and a walk. Jon Lester was decent-6.1 innings, three runs (two earned) on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks-aside from his two errors (one which cost him a run).

In honor of the Little League World Series which begins tomorrow in Williamsport, PA, Boston handed Davis a Little League style home run in the third. His infield single went off Lester's leg then the pitcher made a throwing error to first and after heading for third, Davis' blazing speed forced another error-this time by right fielder Shane Victorino-that allowed the New London, CT native to score.

Mark DeRosa made it 2-0 Toronto in the fourth with a bloop RBI double. David Ortiz got the Red Sox back into it with a solo homer to right center, his 23rd of the season, in the sixth inning. Jarrod Saltalamacchia had two doubles but Boston wasn't able to push another run across until the ninth when Jonny Gomes walked and his buddy Napoli finally showed some of his elusive power.

Edwin Encarnacion had a pair of doubles, scored two runs, walked and stole a base for the Blue Jays.

In tomorrow night's (7:07, NESN) series finale, it is a battle of former White Sox: Jake Peavy (9-4) vs. Mark Buehrle (8-7). Both teams are looking for the series win after splitting the first two contests. Plus, Boston tries to go .500 (5-5) on this lengthy road trip through three cities (Houston, Kansas City and Toronto) that are really spread out.

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Koji Uehara Scoffs At Your Days Off As He Converts His Third Save In As Many Nights

Baseball seasons are so long that oftentimes you stumble into the right role for a player when it was only supposed to be a temporary solution. I don't want to get too ahead of myself here but by notching his third save in three games, I think that Koji Uehara looks very promising as a closer this season for the Red Sox. Boston (49-33 overall, 27-15 home) beat Toronto (39-40 overall, 17-23 away) 7-5 tonight at Fenway Park for their fourth straight win that put them a season-high 16 games over .500.

Staked to a 5-0 lead in the fourth, Red Sox rookie pitcher Allen Webster had everything lining up for his first MLB win. However, when he left after six innings the Blue Jays had cut it to 5-4 and Andrew Bailey (remember him?) allowed a solo homer to Edwin Encarnacion (2 for 3, 2 RBIs, walk) in the seventh that tied it at five and handed Webster a no-decision.

Boston manager John Farrell pushed all the right buttons against his former team as Jonny Gomes-pinch hitting for Daniel Nava (2 for 3, run)-came through with an RBI single in the seventh which put the Red Sox back on top for good. Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked with the bases loaded for the final margin.

Andrew Miller (1-2) got four outs in relief for his first win of 2013 then Uehara had his third consecutive clean ninth with two strikeouts for his fourth save of the season. Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5 with a triple and run plus Jose Iglesias was 2 for 4 with a run and stolen base. New London CT native Rajai Davis was 2 for 4 with two stolen bases and a run for the Blue Jays.

Stephen Drew had a two-run triple in the second but he left in the fourth with a hamstring injury following a double. It is truly shocking to see a warrior like one of the Drew brothers get hurt. I'm sure he'll be right back in the lineup tomorrow. Mike Napoli had an RBI single in the third and Jacoby Ellsbury (2 for 5, run) knocked out overrated Josh Johnson with a two-run single in the fourth.

For once, Toronto got back into a game by playing small ball and not simply relying on homers. Jose Bautista and Encarnacion had RBI singles in the fifth while Adam Lind added a sacrifice fly. Maicer Izturis trimmed it to 5-4 Boston with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Boston and Toronto face each other tomorrow afternoon in a rare 4:05 p.m. start on NESN. Felix Doubront (4-3) takes on mighty Esmil Rogers (3-3) and people have been talking about this matchup for weeks, haha yeah right.

UPDATE 6/29: Drew isn't on the DL (yet) but the Red Sox called up Jonathan Diaz from Pawtucket. Diaz is in the lineup today at third base, making his MLB debut. To make room on the roster, Clayton Mortensen was designated for assignment.

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Red Sox End A Great April 2013 With A Loss In Toronto

The Red Sox will have to wait another year to try and set a record for wins in April. Boston (18-8 overall, 7-3 away) had a chance to set a new franchise mark tonight in their series opener at Toronto's (10-17 overall, 6-8 home) Rogers Centre but the Blue Jays held on for a wild 9-7 victory.

Jon Lester (6 innings, 6 runs, 5 earned runs, 6 hits, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks) had his first poor start of 2013 and predictably it cost his team. Toronto starter Brandon Morrow (5 innings, 3 earned runs, 6 hits, 7 strikeouts, 3 walks) was his usual hit or miss (literally) self.

Toronto snapped their four-game losing streak by getting a run in the first on Jose Bautista's RBI double then two runs scored in the third on Jarrod Saltalamacchia's throwing error and J.P. Arencibia (2 hits, run) made it 4-0 with an RBI double of his own.

Boston's five-game winning streak ended North of the border but it wasn't for lack of effort. David Ortiz (3rd of the season) and Mike Carp (1st as a Red Sox) had solo homers in the fourth and Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, run, walk) cut it to 4-3 in the fifth with an RBI single.

Edwin Encarnacion crushed a two-run bomb in the fifth as the Blue Jays led 6-3 but Boston went ahead for the first time thanks to Jonny Gomes' solo blast (1st as a Red Sox) in the sixth and Ortiz's three-run double in the seventh.

Boston's bullpen was one of the main reasons they had such an unexpectedly solid April but in this game, they blew it. Encarnacion provided the go-ahead run with another two-run shot-this time off Junichi Tazawa (2-1) in the seventh-and Colby Rasmus (2 hits) added an RBI single in the eighth against Joel Hanrahan (who was activated before the game but demoted from the closer role).

The Blue Jays bullpen was superior with Darren Oliver pitching a scoreless eighth (remember when he was on the Red Sox a million years ago?) and closer Casey Janssen had a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save of the season.

Jacoby Ellsbury got on base four times (2 hits, 2 walks, run) but he was also caught stealing third and even worse picked off second base to end the fifth inning.

Boston will look to bounce back tomorrow night (7:07 p.m., NESN) as Clay Buchholz (5-0) takes the mound against Mark Buehrle (1-1).

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The Red Sox Absolutely Have To Trade Josh Beckett, It's The Only Solution

Honestly, what else will it take for the Red Sox to realize that trading Josh Beckett in the next 10 days would be the best move they've made in years? The Texas Toughguy (5-8) just doesn't care anymore and the team will never get anywhere with him stinking up the clubhouse and dugout, not to mention his often abysmal starts.

Tonight, Boston (48-46, 25-26 home) was down 4-0 in the second inning and never really had a chance (I've said that before) as Toronto (46-47, 21-27 away) won the series opener 6-1 at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox' offense certainly didn't help matters as they only avoided a shutout by scoring a run in garbage time-down 6-0 in the ninth with a fielder's choice by Mike Aviles. Boston had nine hits, including two apiece from Will Middlebrooks and Kelly Shoppach but as a team they were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Aaron Laffey (2-1) added seven shutout innings to the six he threw at Fenway nearly a month ago. He allowed eight hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

Beckett went six innings but he gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

The Blue Jays scored twice in the first, on Edwin Encarnacion's (2 runs, single, walk) fielder's choice and J.P. Arencibia's RBI single. Toronto added two more in the second on a two-run double by Colby Rasmus (run, triple).

Adam Lind (2 hits) had an RBI single in the fifth and my man Yan Gomes pushed across the final run with an RBI single in the ninth. Toronto went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Aaron Cook (2-2) faces Carlos Villanueva (4-0) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) in the middle game of this three-game set.

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Red Sox Win 5th Straight Series, Punctuate 7-2 Homestand With 10-4 Thrashing Of Blue Jays

In terms of perfect scenarios, the Red Sox couldn't have asked for much more to happen this afternoon on getaway day at Fenway Park.

Boston (40-35, 21-21 home) got back to .500 at home and a season-high five games over .500 thanks to a 10-4 win against the Blue Jays (38-37, 19-22 away). The Red Sox took two of three from Toronto to end a wildly successful homestand at 7-2.

More importantly, the Red Sox have won five straight series and nine of their last 11 games overall to vault into a tie for third-place with the Tampa Bay Rays (who were swept in a three-game series by the Royals which ended this afternoon). Plus, Boston is now two games ahead of Toronto. It's the first time all season that the Red Sox haven't been fourth or fifth place in the ultra-competitive AL East.

The beauty of this game and what makes me wish I had attended is that it was over in a tidy 2 hours and 40 minutes even though there were a combined 14 runs, 17 hits and six different pitchers. Hell even the rain which looked imminent held off. I only wish that MLB and particularly the Red Sox' games were normally played at that pace, everyone would be so much happier.

Ricky Romero (8-2) beat the Red Sox a couple times last season but this was more typical of how he usually fares against Boston. A good pitcher vs. most teams, he can't do anything when he sees the Red Sox for whatever reason. This was over right away as Boston led 7-1 in the second inning. Romero went three innings, allowing nine runs (eight earned) on seven hits with six walks and one strikeout.

We can give Jon Lester (5-5) somewhat of a pass since he was simply trying to get outs once his teammates handed him such a big lead. He went seven innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.

Colby Rasmus gave the Blue Jays a very brief 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first.

Romero couldn't find the plate in the first and Boston took advantage. Dustin Pedroia had an RBI double, a run scored on an error, Will Middlebrooks drove in a run with a groundout, Mike Aviles (2 hits, 2 RBIs, run, stolen base) had an RBI single and Darnell McDonald had an RBI single to put the Red Sox on top 6-1.

Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits, 3 RBIs, run) had an RBI single in the second before Jose Bautista (25th of the season, 13th in June) took Lester deep in the fourth but it was only a solo home run.

Gonzalez, who's quietly on a eight-game hit streak, added another RBI single in the fifth while Aviles notched an RBI double.

Fittingly, David Ortiz (4 runs, 3 walks) closed it out with a solo homer (his 21st of the season) in the fifth. It was the 399th of his career which ties him with Andres Galarraga and Al Kaline for 49th in MLB history. Duke Snider is 48th with 407.

Edwin Encarnacion (22nd of the season) had a two-run blast in the sixth for the final margin.

Cody Ross was 2 for 3 with a double, walk and two runs scored in the lopsided win for the home team.

Boston plays four games in Seattle followed by three games in Oakland. It's their first visit to the West Coast this season and last road trip before the All-Star break (wild, I know). They need to take advantage of playing these mediocre AL West teams; the Red Sox beat the Mariners (32-45, 4th in AL West) both times they played at Fenway on May 14 and 15.

This time Boston doesn't miss Felix Hernandez (5-5) as he faces Franklin Morales (1-1) tomorrow night (10:10 p.m., NESN) in the series opener. Aaron Cook (1-1) gets Hector Noesi (2-9) on Friday night (10:10 p.m., NESN), Josh Beckett (4-7) returns from the DL on Saturday night against Erasmo Ramirez (0-2) and Felix Doubront (8-4) opposes Jason Vargas (7-7) in the series finale on Sunday afternoon (4:10 p.m., NESN).

Bigger picture: the Yankees put C.C. Sabathia on the DL today (he's expected to miss two starts) while Andy Pettitte broke his ankle pitching this afternoon so he'll be out 6-8 weeks. New York still won and they are up 6.5 games on Boston but now might be the time that the Red Sox get closer in the standings. Something to keep in mind. The Yankees also come to Fenway July 6-8 for the last series of the first half. If the Red Sox do well on this road trip, that could be a pretty meaningful weekend.

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Red Sox Rally For A 5-1 Win Vs. Blue Jays

For six innings tonight, Aaron Laffey completely shut down the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Luckily, Boston (39-35, 20-21 home) was able to hang around and pounce once the Blue Jays (38-36, 19-21 away) went to their bullpen and ended up with a 5-1 win for their troubles.

Shockingly, Daisuke Matsuzaka was the Red Sox starting pitcher that nearly matched Laffey 0 for 0 on the ancient scoreboard in left. Dice-K went 5.2 innings, allowing only one earned run on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Laffey went six scoreless innings, allowing three hits with two strikeouts and two walks. He left after 82 pitches since this was his first start of the season and first since 2010 when he was on the Indians.

Brent Lillibridge started in center field and batted ninth, he was 0-for-2 in his first at-bats as a Red Sox; he was lifted for pinch-hitter Daniel Nava in the seventh. Truly an unforgettable debut for a scrub that might not make it past the trade deadline.

Edwin Encarnacion provided Toronto's only run with an infield single in the first which scored Brett Lawrie. The Blue Jays had runners on second and third with one out but Matsuzaka wiggled out of it as Kelly Johnson flew out and Yunel Escobar lined to Dice-K.

Scott Atchison had a scoreless inning before Andrew Miller (2-0) ended up with the win even though he only got one out: he struck out red-hot Colby Rasmus to end the seventh with Adam Lind (2 hits) on third base.

Jarrod Saltlamacchia (14th of the season) tied it at one in the seventh with a solo homer over the Monster against reliever Jason Fraser. Dustin Pedroia added a two-run single later in the inning, all three runs coming with two outs.

Boston was 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position while Toronto was 1-for-8.

Pedroia's heroics made up for the fact that he got gunned out at home to end the sixth. David Ortiz had hit his second double but left fielder Rajai Davis (2 hits) threw a perfect strike to catcher Jeff Mathis who tagged Pedroia on the way by.

Vicente Padilla had a 1-2-3 eighth for his 17th hold of the season. Amazingly enough, he struck out two but only required 12 pitches. He's been quite a pleasant surprise.

Boston tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth-their last at bat-as Adrian Gonzalez (2 doubles) doubled home Ortiz and Will Middlebrooks drove in Cody Ross with a sacrifice fly.

Alfredo Aceves got a clean ninth despite the fact that it wasn't a save situation. He only threw 12 pitches as well so he should be available tomorrow too (then again you can always say that about Mr. Rubber Arm himself).

The Red Sox have gone 6-2 on a highly successful homestand and they'll try to end it on a high note tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) as Jon Lester (4-5) faces Ricky Romero (8-1). A win would make finally make them .500 at home this season something which they haven't been since the opening series vs. Tampa Bay in early April. Haha really.

After that, Boston heads out on its first West Coast road trip of the 2012 season. Four games in Seattle followed by three in Oakland, the last games away from Fenway before the All-Star break.

UPDATE 6/27: Josh Beckett is expected to come off the DL on Saturday and make a start in Seattle against the Mariners.

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Oritz Homers Twice But Doubront Has Nothing & Red Sox Fall 9-6 To Blue Jays In Series Opener

In the first game of the post-Kevin Youkilis era, the Red Sox scored some runs but Felix Doubront was a mess so they lost 9-6 to the Blue Jays in the series opener at damp Fenway Park.

Toronto (38-35, 19-20 away) scored four runs in the first and a run in the second to take a 5-2 lead. Boston (38-35, 19-21 home) tied it at five in the fourth inning but it's almost impossible to win when you allow a trio of two-run homers.

Doubront (8-4) was never himself. He gutted out six innings but it was ugly since he allowed seven runs (five earned) on a career-high 11 hits with two strikeouts and a walk.

Henderson Alvarez (4-6) left in the sixth with an elbow injury (yikes!) but he was in line for the win and the Blue Jays were able to hang on and survive an hour-and-56 minute rain delay in the top of the seventh.

Five players on Toronto had multiple hits, led by Colby Rasmus (3 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs). Ben Francisco (2 hits, 2 runs), Edwin Encarnacion (2 hits, RBI, run), Brett Lawrie (2 hits, run, stolen base) and Yunel Escobar (2 hits, stolen base) all had nice nights at the plate.

Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with a triple, stolen base and two runs scored.

Rasmus (14th of the season) sneaked a two-run homer in the first around Pesky's pole in right field. Encarnacion had an RBI double and a run scored on Rajai Davis's groundout. It was 4-0 before most of the fans had settled into their seats.

David Ortiz (3 runs) hit a two-run homer to right center, his 19th of the season, in the bottom of the first.

Rasmus added an RBI single in the second before scored twice in the third and once in the fourth to draw even. A run came across on an error then Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI single in the third. Ryan Kalish's (2 hits, stolen base) RBI single tied it at five in the fourth.

J.P. Arencibia (10th of the season) hit a two-run bomb over the Monster off Doubront in the sixth then Jose Bautista (24th of the season) did the same in the seventh except it was against Matt Albers. Toronto led 9-5 which was more than enough.

Ortiz hit a solo homer in the eighth off Darren Oliver to center, his 11th straight season with 20+ homers (second game with two this season; 37th with the Red Sox, 39th all-time in his career) but Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen struck out the side in a clean ninth for his eighth save of the season.

Tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) promises to be anything but an instant classic as Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2) takes on journeyman Aaron Laffey (0-0), who is making his first start of the season due to all the injuries to Toronto starters. Get your bullpens ready!

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Red Sox & Bard Flop In His First MLB Start

I'll concede that I didn't watch every pitch-since the Celtics-Heat game was way more entertaining-but from what I saw, Daniel Bard's first MLB start was nothing special.

Toronto (3-2) bounced back from a loss last night at Rogers Centre to pick up a 7-3 win over the Red Sox (1-4) this evening. It wasn't even that close either since Boston tacked on two meaningless runs in the ninth when it was 7-1.

Bard (0-1) went 5+ innings, allowing five runs (all earned) on eight hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Most of the suckup Red Sox beat reporters were raving about his pitches on Twitter during the game but it's the regular season, not March. I want results.

Blue Jays starter Kyle Drabek (1-0) was better and he earned the win. He went 5.1 innings, allowing one run (earned) on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

The best thing you can say about Bard's outing was that he wasn't hit hard, rather Toronto found a bunch of holes with well-placed hits that lacked much pop.

Edwin Encarnacion's infield single that plated Yunel Escobar (2 runs, 2 hits) gave Toronto a 1-0 lead in the first. The Blue Jays added two more runs in the third on Adam Lind's (2 hits) RBI single and Brett Lawrie's (2 hits) RBI single.

Besides the better pitching, the difference in the game was runners in scoring position: Boston was 2 for 12 while Toronto was 5 for 10 in that position.

Adrian Gonzalez finally got the Red Sox on the board with a sacrifice fly in the sixth that scored Jacoby Ellsbury (2 runs, 2 walks).

The Blue Jays put it away with three more runs in the sixth, on J.P. Arencebia's two-run single and a sacrifice fly by Colby Rasmus. Encarnacion greeted reliever Michael Bowden-who still sucks-with a solo homer in the seventh.

Boston has already proven in this very small sample size (five games) that their lineup never gives up, the opposite of last September. Gonzalez drove in Nick Punto and Ellsbury with an RBI double in the ninth. Dustin Pedroia (3 hits) and Gonzalez were stranded on base as David Ortiz struck out looking to end it.

Don't look now but the Red Sox would do themselves a big favor by taking the series finale tomorrow afternoon. Nevermind that they typically own Ricky Romero (4-6 in 13 career starts, 7.12 ERA, .328 OBA) but they simply cannot return to Boston 1-5 this weekend with Josh Beckett starting the home opener and four games against the Rays. That would be a recipe for disaster.

It's up to Jon Lester to pitch another gem, for a tired bullpen, and for the lineup to help him more than it did on Opening Day against Detroit.

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What Has Become Of Daniel Bard?

Sometimes baseball and in turn life doesn't make any sense.

On a day when John Lackey actually pitched decently-one of his best outings of the season mind you-ace setup man Daniel Bard failed to protect a lead once again as the Boston Red Sox lost 5-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park in an afternoon matinee.

They dodged a bullet as the Tampa Bay Rays lost 6-2 to the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Camden Yards, meaning that Boston remains four games ahead of Tampa Bay in the AL Wild Card race.

Bard (2-8; most losses of any reliever in MLB) has had a disastrous week with three terrible appearances in a row. That is nothing but bad news for the Red Sox (86-62) who count perhaps way too much on him. With an already taxed bullpen (since the rotation is a mess), Terry Francona has little choice but to hope Bard somehow finds his control again and works out of his funk.

Summoned to protect a 4-2 lead in the top of the eighth, Bard allowed three runs (two earned) on a hit with two walks. It was his fifth blown save of the season. Jonathan Papelbon looked great in the ninth (in a non-save situation), going 1-2-3 with two strikeouts. It's time for him to do something that Francona avoids at all costs: go for saves that are longer than an inning.

The goodwill from Tim Wakefield's 200th win seemed to carry over to the series finale as Lackey pitched into the sixth and even left with a lead (3-2). He went 5.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts. He is the punching bag of New England and I've already made countless negative jokes and comments about him this season but he didn't deserve that today.

Blue Jays (75-74) ace Ricky Romero (15-10) beat Boston for the second time in a week, a huge accomplishment for a guy that normally gets rocked Lackey-style (there it goes) when he takes the mound against them. Thanks to a low pitch count, he lasted eight innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Toronto closer Frank Francisco also normally struggles against the Red Sox but he put his career numbers aside today with a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his 15th save of the season.

The Blue Jays grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Edwin Encarnacion (2 hits) and Kelly Johnson.

Boston tied it in the second with ground outs from Ryan Lavarnway and Jason Varitek.

Marco Scutaro's sacrifice fly in the third (scoring Jacoby Ellsbury who extended his hit streak to 18 games with a triple) and Adrian Gonzalez's solo shot in the sixth (his 26th of the season; first at Fenway since July 7) gave the Red Sox a 4-2 lead. That's when everything quickly fell apart (a common theme lately with Boston).

First, Gonzalez left in the seventh with tightness in his left calf. Two walks and an error on Bard to start the eighth gave Toronto the bases loaded with no outs. J.P. Arencibia's ground out scored Encarnacion to cut it to 4-3 and then Adam Loewen delivered the key hit of the game: a two-run single.

There are 14 games left in the season and Tampa Bay comes to town tomorrow night for the start of a four-game series. The pitching matchups are Kyle Weiland vs. Jeremy Hellickson on Thursday night, Josh Beckett vs. James Shields on Friday night, Jon Lester vs. Jeff Niemann on Saturday afternoon and Tim Wakefield vs. David Price on Sunday afternoon.

As a Red Sox fan, do you feel confident about any of those? Beckett is making his first start in over a week after spraining his ankle and the Rays knocked Lester around last weekend at the Trop. The only solace is that they'll still be ahead when Tampa Bay leaves, barring a sweep at home and they won't see them again this year.

The good news is that eight of the last 14 games are at home and even better, seven of them are against the O's. If the Red Sox can't hang on to a four-game lead with 14 remaining then they have nobody to blame but themselves and they wouldn't go anywhere in the playoffs anyway. The next two weeks should be a real test of this possibly great team's character.

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The Red Sox freight train is coming down the tracks, good luck stopping it

Nothing can stop the Boston Red Sox at this moment, they are the hottest team in MLB as they won their eighth straight game 16-4 yesterday afternoon at the Rogers Centre against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Boston (38-26) climbed a season-high 12 games over .500 (remember the 2-10 start?) with an 18 hit attack.

Toronto (32-33) had no chance as they were held to only six hits in their second straight loss to the Red Sox.

John Lackey (4-5) got the win but he was about the last guy on Boston that you would cite in the win since every starter in the lineup had an RBI. It was a game that was all about the offense. Lackey went six innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow (2-4) has always had a great arm but he walks way too many batters and as a result, his pitch count always seems to get high early on. He lasted 4.1 innings, tagged for nine earned runs on 10 hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Marco Scutaro led Boston with four hits and three runs. Dustin Pedroia had three hits, three RBIs and two runs. David Ortiz had two hits, three RBIs and two runs and Jason Varitek added two hits, four RBIs and three runs. J.D. Drew had two hits, two runs and an RBI while Jacoby Ellsbury notched two hits, a run and RBI.

Boston scored four runs in the third to take an early 4-0 lead. It was 5-0 in the fourth after an RBI double by Pedroia. Toronto got a two-run double by Rajai Davis to make it 5-2 but that was sadly as close as they would get.

Varitek and Ortiz had three-run homers in the fifth and the rout was on for the Red Sox.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer off Lackey in the sixth but it didn't matter.

Boston will go for the sweep and its ninth straight win this afternoon as Jon Lester takes on rookie Kyle Drabek.

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