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TORONTO(AP) When there's no Green Monster to aim at, the
Boston Red Sox
don't seem to have the same offensive punch.
Alex Rios
had four hits and drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, leading
Brian Tallet
and the
Toronto Blue Jays
to a 5-3 victory over the slumping
Red Sox
on Saturday.
Boston has dropped four of five, all away from home, and scored just 13 runs during that span.
The
Red Sox
are 17-6 at Fenway Park, where they average 6.3 runs per game. On the road, however, Boston is 11-16 and averages 4.2 runs.
''The players we have, not everybody but a lot of them, are suited for Fenway,'' manager
Terry Francona
said. ''There's guys on our club who know they can reach out and hook something and hit it off that wall. Some of these road
games, you can go out and hook it and fly out. There's a difference. It's been something we've been trying to figure out for
a while. Our home and road, there's a lot of disparity. I would like, hopefully, to figure it out by tomorrow.''
Boston's
Kevin Youkilis
came in leading the AL with a .374 average but went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, dropping his average to .362.
Also struggling was Boston designated hitter
David Ortiz
. Batting sixth for the fifth straight game, Ortiz went 0 for 4 and struck out twice, dropping his average to .185.
Rocco Baldelli
homered for Boston but came out in the fifth with an injured left knee after slamming into the fence while trying to make
a sliding catch of a foul ball.
J.D. Drew took over in right field for Baldelli. X-rays were negative.
''He bruised his kneecap pretty good,'' Francona said. ''I think everybody involved thought it was worse when he first did
it, including himself. We'll certainly stay away from him tomorrow. I think we dodged a bullet there because he hit that wall
pretty hard.''
Toronto won its second straight after a nine-game losing streak and has now won six consecutive games at home, where it is
18-6 overall.
''We haven't lost our confidence,'' Rios said. ''We've been working hard and we're going to keep working hard. We're going
to get out of this and we're going to start winning and everything will be good.''
With the score tied 3-all, the
Blue Jays
went ahead with a two-run seventh against
Ramon Ramirez
(4-2).
Marco Scutaro
led off with an infield single, went to second on a wild pitch and scored when Rios singled to center.
Vernon Wells
followed with an RBI double.
Ramirez allowed only two runs in 22 previous games this season.
''It's one of the first tough innings we've seen,'' Francona said. ''He just looked like he was having a hard time. Just looking
at his body language, he looked like he was out of sync.''
Rios hit an RBI single in the first, doubled and scored in the third and doubled in the fifth before sparking the seventh-inning
rally. He finished 4 for 4.
Tallet (3-3) won for the first time in four starts, allowing three runs and three hits in seven innings. He walked four and
struck out six.
Shaky early, Tallet gave up all his runs and walks in the first two innings. After correcting a flaw in his delivery, Tallet
retired 13 of the next 14 batters and didn't allow another hit until
Nick Green
's two-out double in the seventh.
''He started off like he wasn't going to make it to the fifth inning,'' Toronto manager
Cito Gaston
said. ''All of a sudden he got his control back and started to mix and match pitches.''
Brandon League
pitched the eighth and
Scott Downs
worked around a leadoff single in the ninth to earn his seventh save in eight chances.
Mike Lowell
gave Boston a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first but Toronto answered with Rios' RBI single.
Baldelli hit a two-run homer in the second, but
Red Sox
starter
Brad Penny
couldn't hold the lead.
The
Blue Jays
got one back in the third when Rios doubled and scored on a two-out single by
Adam Lind
, then tied it on Lind's leadoff homer in the sixth, his eighth.
Penny allowed three runs, two earned, and 10 hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out five.
''It seemed like every mistake I made they hit,'' Penny said.
Notes: Toronto's
Aaron Hill
extended his hitting streak to 13 games. ... Scutaro, who went 3 for 5, has had two or more hits in six consecutive games
and seven of his past nine. ... The roof at Rogers Centre was open to begin the game but closed during the fifth inning.
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