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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Clay Does Canada: Buchholz Wins Sixth Straight At Rogers Centre

Who knows if it is because of the better health care system, the cleaner air or the ubiquity of hockey but Clay Buchholz loves to pitch in Toronto (yes I know it's indoors).

Buchholz (5-2) won his sixth straight start at the Rogers Centre tonight as the Red Sox (27-25, 14-11 away) pulled even with the Blue Jays (27-25, 15-11 home) thanks to a 7-2 victory in the series opener.

It's a small and crappy sample size but this was definitely his best outing of the season. Not only did he last eight innings (2 runs, 6 hits, 2 walks) but he struck out a season-high seven batters. All Toronto could manage against him were a pair of harmless solo home runs.

Boston's offense pounded Blue Jays starter Henderson Alvarez (3-5) along with two no-name scrub relievers, to the tune of 15 hits. Alvarez lasted 6.1 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and a walk.

Daniel Nava went 4 for 5 with three doubles, three runs and an RBI while Adrian Gonzalez was 3 for 5 with a double, two RBIs and a run. David Ortiz (2 RBIs, run, walk) and Ryan Sweeney (run) also had multiple hits in the win.

Ortiz got the party started with a solo homer (his 13th of the season) to left center in the second inning. Gonzalez had an RBI single in the third but Yunel Escobar got the Blue Jays on the board that frame with a solo homer (his 3rd of the season).

Boston scored a run on Jarrod Saltalamacchia's fielder's choice in the third and the Red Sox tacked on four additional runs in the seventh to clinch it. Scott Podsednik had an infield single that scored a run, Nava crushed an RBI double, Gonzalez added another RBI single and Ortiz did the same.

David Cooper (double) gave the Blue Jays fans something to cheer about as he hit his first homer of the season, a solo shot in the seventh.

Still, Buchholz threw 108 pitches and perhaps most importantly, he saved Boston's bullpen. Only Scott Atchison was summoned, to handle the ninth.

Felix Doubront (5-2) faces Kyle Drabek (4-5) tomorrow afternoon (1:07 p.m., NESN) with a chance to help the Red Sox leapfrog the Blue Jays in the AL East standings (and get out of the basement in the process).

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For A Change, The Red Sox Give Winning A Chance

Well it was bound to happen at some point, the Boston Red Sox mercifully won their first game in 2012.

Things were looking good for the Toronto Blue Jays (2-2) in their home opener at the Rogers Centre tonight as they led 2-1 going into the top of the ninth and had closer Sergio Santos (0-1; 2nd blown save) enter for the save. He wasn't able to get finish it though as Boston (1-3) rallied for three runs and a 4-2 win.

Adrian Gonzalez tied it with a sacrifice fly that scored Dustin Pedroia who led off the ninth with a roped double. Ryan Sweeney's (2 hits) single scored pinch runner Darnell McDonald although the Red Sox had some good luck on the play as Jose Bautista's throw was on target but catcher J.P. Arencebia dropped it. Finally, Cody Ross came home on Santos's wild pitch.

The best aspect of it for the Red Sox was that Alfredo Aceves returned to the hill a day after blowing a save in Detroit and he was able to get a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save of the season. He didn't allow a hit and had a strikeout. The key was that he threw first-pitch strikes to all three hitters that he faced.

Felix Doubront only went five innings for Boston before he reached 101 pitches but the young lefty showed plenty of promise. He allowed two runs (both earned) on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Reliever Scott Atchison (1-0) was the unsung hero as he pitched three scoreless innings, only allowing one hit with no walks and three strikeouts to pick up the win.

Blue Jays rookie Henderson Alvarez looked good too, he went six innings and allowed one run (earned) on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Toronto scored its only two runs in the third on Kelly Johnson's fielder's choice and an RBI single by Edwin Encarnacion. The Red Sox should have tagged Colby Rasmus out at home on Johnson's grounder but Jarrod Saltalamacchia was too far in front of the plate to reach behind in time. Yunel Escobar scored on Encarnacion's hit.

Pedroia sparked Boston's offense with a solo homer in the sixth inning, his first of the season, which cut the Blue Jay lead to 2-1.

Daniel Bard makes his first career start tomorrow as he tries to bring Boston to the .500 mark with its second win in a row. Toronto counters with young righty Kyle Drabek. I have no idea what to expect from Bard but at least Aceves got the job done tonight so we don't have to speculate about making Bard the closer for one outing.

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Beckett Sprains Ankle, Lawrie Hits Walkoff Homer in 11th

All I can say is thank God I was at the beach for all of today's game.

Well, to be specific, I listened to the first 10+ innings of the Red Sox-Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre on the radio and was walking back into our condo when Toronto (70-71) rookie Brett Lawrie (haha great picture by the way) hit a walk-off homer in the 11th against Dan Wheeler (2-2).

Why does that always seem to happen? You invest so much time into a baseball game and then it's over in one second when you're not paying attention.

The sting of a 1-0 loss in 11 innings for Boston (84-56) would have been much easier to take with the sun in the sky and the sand at my feet. Back home, the bleak reality set in. First, Red Sox starter Josh Beckett left in the fourth inning with a sprained ankle. He had been cruising, striking out six and only giving up three hits in 3.2 innings.

With Erik Bedard skipping a start due to his back and Beckett being sent back to Boston for a further examination, this is not the time for the Red Sox rotation to be falling apart.

Second, the Yankees beat the Orioles this afternoon meaning that New York is now 2.5 games ahead of Boston in the AL East.

As always, a rookie pitcher facing the Red Sox for the first time excelled. 21-year-old Henderson Alvarez went six innings for Toronto, scattering four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Charlie Villanueva (1 inning), Casey Janssen (1 inning), Frank Francisco (2 innings) all paved the way for Shawn Camp (3-3) who got a 1-2-3 top of the 11th.

Among other things, this loss wasted another outstanding effort by Alfredo Aceves. Summoned early, Boston's unsung hero went 3.2 innings, allowing only one hit with three walks and four strikeouts.

Daniel Bard got the last five outs in the eighth and ninth leading to Jonathan Papelbon who was sketchy (as always in a non-save situation) but was able to wiggle out of a bases-loaded jam in the 10th.

Josh Reddick and Marco Scutaro each had two hits in the loss.

Jon Lester and rookie Luis Perez will get the starts tomorrow night in the second of four in Toronto.

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