The win puts the Sox four games over the .500 mark at 39-35. It also removes them from the Blue Jays, at least for a night, who find themselves a game back in the AL East at 38-36.
Time of the game was 3:02. Stay tuned to NESN and NESN.com for all your postgame needs.
Bottom 8th, Red Sox 5-1: One of the scribes in the front row here in the press box made a very nice two-handed grab on a Saltalamacchia foul ball.
Credit to NESN's broadcast end for showing the replay.
Bottom 8th, Red Sox 4-1: Those left-handed swings of the Red Sox sure look sweet tonight.
Of course, Ortiz has looked good all season, and he's taken two doubles off the Monster tonight. But hopefully the fact that Gonzalez also has two doubles to the opposite field is indicative of a swing that's finally coming around. If Gonzalez' swing is supposedly "tailor made" for Fenway, then this is the swing tape that Gonzalez should be looking at later in the video room.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 3-1: Vicente Padilla is becoming quite the bullpen cog for the Red Sox. After starting out with an ERA of 8.00 in April, Padilla has played himself into a major role in Valentine's bullpen.
After that last 1-2-3 inning of work, Padilla has not allowed a run in his last 10 appearances, a stretch of 8 2/3 innings. More to the point, he seems to be on the mound in increasigly important situations for the Sox.
End 7th, Red Sox 3-1: It's safe to say that Pedroia has made amends for his overaggressive baserunning earlier. And suffice to say that was not what the Jays were looking for from David Pauley.
After all the pitching changes, Pauley came in and hit Nava with a pitch and walked Aviles. With the bases loaded Pedroia came through in a big way, driving home two with a single to center.
Bottom 7th, 1-1: If you're a fan of fast-placed play, this is not your inning.
After facing just three batters, Blue Jays reliever Jason Frasor was pulled behind Saltalamacchia's homerun. Luis Perez came in, promptly gave up a double to pinch hitter Ryan Kalish, and his night was done, too.
The newly-acquired David Pauley is now in for the Jays to face pinch hitter Daniel Nava, the team's third pitcher in three batters.
Bottom 7th, 1-1: Saltalamacchia continues to make a push for the All-Star game, belting his 14th home run of the season to the opposite field and over the Green Monster.
Salty leads all American League catchers in home runs and is tied for third in RBIs despite not even having enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title. That is some impressive production given the slightly irregular playing time.
End 6th, Jays 1-0: Pedroia is a very aggressive player, and no one would ever try to rein him in, as it's a characteristic of his play that makes him so valuable beyond what stats show. However, there are those times where his aggressiveness will burn you, and the bottom of the sixth was one of those times.
Even after Rajai Davis misplayed Ortiz' double off the monster, Davis still had time to pick up the ball and throw Pedroia — who looked to be running home all the way regardless — out at home. Granted, it was a spectacular throw, but it also beat Pedroia by a good three or four steps. And again, that's with the bobble in left.
So instead of runners at second and third with one out, it's a runner at third with two out. Perhaps not the best decision by Pedroia to try and score.
Mid 6th, Jays 1-0: Well, now you can close the book on Matsuzaka, who gives up just one run in 5 2/3 innings, striking out five and — most importantly — only yielding one free pass. In fact, that walk to Encarnacion was probably an indication to manager Bobby Valentine that Dice-K was getting tired.
Taking Matsuzaka's place to close out the inning was Scott Atchison, who, as we here at NESN recently wrote, is pretty good. Nice play by Aviles to get Yunel Escobar at second on the force play, since he had no chance to get the speedy Rajai Davis at first. If he doesn't get Escobar, the Jays are up by two.
Top 6th, Jays 1-0: Matsuzaka's evening is done after 5 2/3 innings. You can't close the book on him yet, but as of right now he's allowed one run on six hits.
This was likely Dice-K's best start of the season, thus far. The reason he's out? Matsuzaka just hit the 100-pitch mark.
End 5th, Jays 1-0: There were definitely a few shouts of "Youuuukkk" after the man he was traded for, Brent Lillibridge, popped out with two on to end the fifth inning.
For the first time all night, however, the Red Sox looked to be having some better at-bats against Laffey. Beyond Gonzalez' leadoff double, Saltalamacchia and McDonald both did very well to work the count, an indication that perhaps Boston has a better idea of what to expect from Laffey the second time through the lineup.
End 4th, Jays 1-0: After giving up a single to center to Aviles leading off the game, Laffey has really settled in, not allowing a baserunner since. Moreover, the Sox don't look particularly comfortable in the box, striking out looking twice, and not really hitting anything hard on the night.
And 2012 might be known in baseball as "The Year of the Shift." Clubs are deploying shift defenses much more often this season, but it clearly hasn't hurt David Ortiz' numbers much. However, in the fourth his 5-3 groundout did come from short right field, the shift taking at least one hit away from the burly designated hitter.
Mid 3rd, Jays 1-0: If you're keeping a scorecard at home, there was one play in that last half inning you're not likely to write down again any time soon.
After Adrian Gonzalez dropped Colby Rasmus' line drive, Rasmus had stopped running so Dustin Pedroia picked up the ball and ran to first. That's a 3-4 putout — at first base. Outside of a sacrifice bunt play, that's definitely not typical.
End 1st, Jays 1-0: The Red Sox go down quietly in the bottom of the first, but let's talk Fenway music.
Prior to the game, one of the songs played over the public address system was M83's "Midnight City." In between the organ and the contemporary pop fare, it's a choice that stands out, not to mention a great song in its own right.
A little out of place at historical Fenway? Maybe, but it's nice to hear something for the audiophile crowd.
Mid 1st, Jays 1-0: By giving up one run, Matsuzaka actually lowers his first inning ERA, which had stood at 15.00 coming in to the evening.
And yes, that run is earned, despite the Red Sox defense. There was technically only one error (Middlebrooks' throwing error allowed the runners to advance), but Darnell McDonals called off Mike Aviles very late on Kelly Johnson's popup, and Aviles couldn't get Brett Lawrie going from second to third on a ground ball right in front of him.
We're not sure it Lawrie's play was good, aggressive baserunning, or if it was a play Aviles should have made.
7:11 p.m. ET: We have first pitch! Game-time temperature is 68 degrees, for those wondering.
6:30 p.m. ET: Here's a look at the lineups for this evening's AL East showdown.
Boston Red Sox
Mike Aviles, SS
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Cody Ross, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Darnell McDonald, LF
Brent Lillibridge, CF
Daisuke Matsuzaka, P
Toronto Blue Jays
Brett Lawrie, 3B
Colby Rasmus, CF
Jose Bautista, RF
Edwin Encarnacion, DH
Kelly Johnson, 2B
Yunel Escobar, SS
Rajai Davis, LF
Adam Lind, 1B
Jeff Mathis, C
Aaron Laffey, P
This is pretty much the Red Sox everday lineup from here on out, with the possible exception of the outfield, which likely remains a revolving door until Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford make their triumphant returns. But, even without their presence, it's incredibly deep, and — for the first time in weeks — everybody knows their role, and everybody basically knows what is going to be asked of them coming to the ballpark.
For a young player like Will Middlebrooks, that kind of vote of confidence cannot be understated. You can't really ask for even more production out of the third baseman, but hopefully the Red Sox have created a certain comfort level that allows him to continue to settle into his role. But any lineup with Jarrod Saltalamacchia hitting seventh is going to be good.
8 a.m. ET: The end of interleague and beginning of divisional play offered the Red Sox a rude awakening. Rather than facing some of the watered-down National League lineups the Sox had been facing recently, it was Felix Doubront's duty to face down the Blue Jays — the American League's third best offense. After yielding nine runs on the evenings, suffice to say that there may be an adjustment period to facing those a deeper lineup.
Well, now the responsibility falls on Daisuke Matsuzaka to temper the Jays offense. Since returning from Tommy John surgery three starts ago, Matsuzaka has been every bit the enigmatic mixed bag that he was before going down last year. Through those three starts he has a WHIP of 1.10 and allowed an opponents' average of .213 — but has also yielded a 6.06 ERA, going 0-2 so far.
Matsuzaka faces the Blue Jays' Aaron Laffey, making his first start since 2010.
For more details and analysis from Fenway, follow NESN.com's live blog. Tune into NESN's pregame show at 6 p.m. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
