Final
Overbay's two homers lift Blue Jays over Red Sox
Aug 21, 2010 - 3:37 AMVideo
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 RBI 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 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 (mound) 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.
- Red Sox 2, Blue Jays 16 - FINAL
TORONTO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
F Lewis dh 5 3 3 0 1 0 1 .275
Y Escobar ss 6 1 3 2 0 0 2 .308
J Bautista rf 5 1 1 2 0 0 6 .254
V Wells cf 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 .266
va-D Wise ph-cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .262
J Buck c 5 4 4 2 0 0 0 .286
A Hi
Aug 20 10:15 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY LYLE OVERBAY SCORED JOHN BUCK
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, L OVERBAY ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 16
BOSTON 2 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: J MCDONALD (.256, 3-FOR-4, HR, 3 RBI)
Blue Jays 16, Red Sox 2 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 20 9:54 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY DUSTY BROWN SCORED JED LOWRIE AND DARNELL
MCDONALD
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, D BROWN ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 15
BOSTON 2 BOTTOM,7TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: D ORTIZ (.269, 1-FOR-3)
Blue Jays 15, Red Sox 2 Bot 7, 0 OutsAug 20 9:43 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY JOSE BAUTISTA (38) TO CENTER WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 7TH OFF MANNY DELCARMEN.
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 15, BOSTON 0
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: V WELLS (.266, 0-FOR-3, BB)
Blue Jays 15, Red Sox 0 Top 7, 0 OutsAug 20 9:27 PM - Confuzed Come on guys...put Brady in....it's only 2 touchdowns......
Blue Jays 14, Red Sox 0 Bot 6, 0 OutsAug 20 9:12 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY JOHN MCDONALD (3) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 6TH OFF MICHAEL BOWDEN SCORED LYLE OVERBAY AND JOHN
BUCK.
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 14, BOSTON 0
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: T SNIDER (.244, 2-FOR-3)
Blue Jays 14, Red Sox 0 Top 6, 0 OutsAug 20 9:06 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY YUNEL ESCOBAR SCORED FRED LEWIS AND JOHN MCDONALD
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, Y ESCOBAR ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 11
BOSTON 0 TOP,5TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: J BAUTISTA (.253, 0-FOR-2, SF, RBI)
Blue Jays 11, Red Sox 0 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 20 8:47 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY LYLE OVERBAY (15) TO LEFT CENTER WITH
0 OUT IN THE 3RD OFF JON LESTER SCORED AARON HILL AND JOHN
BUCK.
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 9, BOSTON 0
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: J MCDONALD (.241, 1-FOR-1)
Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 0 Top 3, 0 OutsAug 20 8:03 PM - AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY JOSE BAUTISTA SCORED FRED LEWIS
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, Y ESCOBAR ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 6
BOSTON 0 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: V WELLS (.268, 0-FOR-0, BB)
Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 0 Top 2, 0 OutsAug 20 7:49 PM - AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
TORONTO 5 5 4 0
BOSTON 0 0 1 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: TOR - BRETT CECIL
BOS - JON LESTER
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: M SCUTARO (.270, 7 HR, 40 RBI)
J LOWRIE (.304, 2 HR, 7 RBI)
V MARTINEZ (.279, 10 HR, 46 RBI)
Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsAug 20 7:29 PM
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