With their new look lineup, the Boston Red Sox offense got out of it’s funk as they hit 4 home runs en route to an 8-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays to avoid being swept in front of 30,496 at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
With the win, the Red Sox improve to 29-22 and move to within a ½ game of the New York Yankees who lost this afternoon to the Cleveland Indians. The Blue Jays drop to 29-24 and are 1 game behind the Red Sox in the AL East.
Jon Lester toed the rubber for the Red Sox and it was probably his best outing to date. He allowed a run on three infield singles and three walks while striking out a career-high 12 in 6 innings of work.
Justin Masterson went 2 innings, allowing a run on 2 hits and a walk while recording a strikeout. Ramon Ramirez walked one in his inning of work.
Rookie Ricky Romero started this one for the Jays and was hit hard and struggled with his command. He gave up 5 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks while recording 5 strikeouts. The final reliever of the afternoon for the Jays, Brian Wolfe, was touched up for 3 runs on 3 hits in 2 innings.
Kevin Youkilis had a big afternoon as he had 2 home runs with 2 RBIs. Jason Bay also had 2 hits and a home run while Mike Lowell also had 2 hits and a RBI. Dustin Pedroia mashed a 3-run homer and J.D. Drew added an RBI to the cause.
The only member of the Red Sox starting nine without a hit was Jason Varitek.
Romero got off to a nice start in the 1st as he got the first two outs. He then left a pitch out over the plate that Youk drove the other way for a solo home run giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.
The Blue Jays got the run back in the bottom half of the inning.
Marco Scutaro led off with an infield single. After Lester struck out Aaron Hill, he walked Alex Rios and then with Vernon Wells at the plate, the Jays pulled off a double steal. It worked to perfection as Wells brought in Scutaro with a sac fly to tie the game at 1.
David Ortiz started the 4th with a leadoff double and the Romero walked Varitek. Ellsbury moved the runners up with the first sacrifice of the season for the Red Sox. Romero struck out Nick Green but Pedroia hit a 3-run homer off the foul pole to put the Red Sox out front 4-1.
Romero came back out for the 5th and walked Youk and Bay to end his afternoon as he gave way to Scott Richmond. Lowell greeted Richmond with an RBI double to push the Red Sox lead to 5-1.
Wolfe took over for B.J. Ryan in the 8th inning and gave up a leadoff double to Green. Pedroia sacrificed Green over to third and Drew brought him in with a sac fly. Wolfe then gave up back-to-back jacks to Youk and Bay to make it 8-1 Red Sox.
With 1-out in the bottom of the 8th, Alex Rios took Masterson deep to give the Jays their last run of the afternoon as they trailed 8-2.
The Red Sox starting pitching has looked great as of late and it’s definitely an encouraging sign that Lester threw the ball well this afternoon. Usually after a good outing, Lester has a bad outing. Let’s hope that he builds upon this start and doesn’t fall back down.
The Red Sox traveled to Detroit after the game where they will enjoy a day off tomorrow. They’ll finish off the road trip with a 3-game set in Detroit. Daisuke Matsuzaka will start for the Red Sox and he’ll be opposed by young rookie Rick Porcello.
Notes and musings:
Boston Red Sox @ Toronto Blue Jays 5.31.09 box score
Jon Lester struck out a career-high 12 in six innings, the first Red Sox pitcher with 12-plus K’s in a start of six innings or fewer since Pedro Martinez in 2001.
Jason Varitek on Thursday posted his 9th career multi-homer game, his 2nd this season. Among Sox catchers, only Carlton Fisk has more (11). He became the 16th catcher in baseball history to reach double digits in home runs in at least 10 different seasons.
Terry Francona has 499 career wins as Red Sox manager. He ranks 3rd in club history behind Joe Cronin (1,071) and Mike Higgins (560).
