Dustin Pedroia homered twice and Tim Wakefield finally earned the 200th victory of his career as Boston snapped a five-game losing streak with an 18-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox moved four games ahead of Tampa Bay in the American League wild card standings. The Rays lost at Baltimore 4-2 on Tuesday. Boston hosts Tampa Bay for four games beginning Thursday. The Red Sox remained four games behind the Yankees in the AL East. New York defeated Seattle 3-2 on Tuesday.
Wakefield twice surrendered leads early in the game but held on to win for the first time in his last eight starts. The knuckleballer went six innings, allowing five runs on six hits while fanning six.
Pedroia finished with four hits and five RBIs. His three-run homer gave the Red Sox a 10-5 lead in the sixth inning.
Jacoby Ellsbury homered among three hits while scoring four times and driving in a pair of runs.
Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 42nd homer for the Jays while J.P. Arencibia added a two-run homer. Brandon Morrow (9-11) took the loss, surrendering seven runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Boston’s David Ortiz was a late scratch with back spasms.
Toronto | Boston | |
Brandon Morrow | Player | Tim Wakefield |
Loss | W/L | Win |
5.1 | IP | 6.0 |
2 | Strikeouts | 6 |
7 | Hits | 6 |
8.44 | ERA | 7.50 |
Toronto | Boston | |
David Cooper | Player | Dustin Pedroia |
3 | Hits | 4 |
1 | RBI | 5 |
0 | HR | 2 |
5 | TB | 12 |
.600 | Avg | .800 |