Red Sox all season long, Lyle Overbay hopes that Toronto's 16-run effort
against Boston will be a turning point for the Blue Jays.
Overbay hit two homers and drove in a
career-high seven runs as the Toronto Blue Jays battered Boston Red Sox
starter Jon Lester en route to a 16-2 victory Friday night.
"They've been kicking our butt,"
Overbay said. "We've been struggling really bad against these guys.
"Hopefully, this will bring some confidence because I think everyone had
good at-bats," said Overbay, who was 4-for-5 with three runs scored.
Boston had won nine of the first 12
meetings between the teams this season. The Red Sox also lost second
baseman Dustin Pedroia Friday with soreness in the foot he broke in late
June, a difficult blow for Boston as it tries to reach the postseason.
Pedroia spent seven weeks on the DL
after he fouled a ball off his left foot on June 25 at San Francisco. He
played in two minor league rehab games last weekend, showing no signs
of problems.
But the 2008 AL MVP experienced
significant pain after going 1-for-3 in Boston's 7-5 victory over the
Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday and was scratched from Thursday's
lineup.
He probably wouldn't have been able to
do much to slow down Overbay, who had the ninth multi-homer game of his
career and second this season.
Overbay's second homer chased Lester
(13-8) after 2-plus innings. He surrendered eight hits, three walks and
nine runs. His previous low point came against Tampa Bay last season
when gave up eight runs in 4 1/3 innings.
"He left a couple of pitches up. It's
not typical of him," said Overbay, who had the ninth multi-homer game of
his career and second this season. "You have to make him pay for that."
Jose Bautista hit his major
league-leading 38th homer in the seventh. John McDonald also homered for
the Blue Jays. John Buck, activated from the disabled list prior to the
game, was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and four runs.
"Good night for the managers and
coaches to kind of lay back and relax a little bit," said Blue Jays
manager Cito Gaston.
It was the most runs given up by the
Red Sox this season.
Brett Cecil (10-6) picked up only his
third victory in 11 starts since June 15 for the Blue Jays. He worked 6
2/3 scoreless innings before giving up a two-run double to Dusty Brown
in the seventh. Jesse Carlson and Shawn Camp finished the game for
Toronto.
Lester's troubles started with the
game's first batter, Fred Lewis, who reached on a walk before Yunel Escobar's
perfectly executed bunt base hit down the third base line. After Vernon
Wells walked to load the bases, Buck put the Blue Jays on top, 2-0, with
a hit. Overbay's homer later in the inning gave Toronto a 5-0 lead.
"He walked the first hitter, Escobar
gets a bunt down and he's pitching out of the stretch right away," said
Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "He just didn't command really anything.
It was a tough go right from the beginning."
The Blue Jays got a sacrifice fly
from Bautista in the second inning to increase their lead to 6-0. In the
third, Buck singled and Aaron Hill walked to set up Overbay's second
homer of the game.
"It's tough. We're getting down to [crunch] time here and that right there doesn't really help us," said
Lester. "It's going to be a long five days to get back up on there and hopefully do a little better."
Scott Atchison replaced Lester and
gave up two runs in 2 1/3 innings. He left the game after being struck
in the leg by a Travis Snider liner.
Michael Bowden, Manny Delcarmen and
Tim Wakefield also pitched for the Red Sox, who have lost two in a row
after winning the first two games of a nine-game homestand.
Notes
Overbay had six RBI in a game
on July 23, 2005 as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. … Bautista
snapped an 0-for-12 slump with his homer. … David Ortiz extended his
hitting streak to 11 games with a fourth inning double. Overbay hit two
homers in a game on May 29 against Baltimore.