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Wakefield, Lowell help Red Sox shut out slumping Blue Jays

May 11, 2007 - 4:35 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Tim Wakefield and the Boston Red Sox continued to make life miserable for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Wakefield and two relievers combined on a five-hitter and Mike Lowell hit a three-run homer as the Red Sox shut out the Blue Jays, 8-0 on Thursday, to sweep a three-game set and send Toronto to its ninth straight loss.

Kevin Youkilis had three hits, scored twice and had two RBI and David Ortiz also drove in two for Boston, which knocked around former Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay for eight runs, including seven earned.

Toronto's nine consecutive losses are its most since dropping nine straight from April 24-May 3, 2002. The longest losing streak in club history is 12, which was set in the strike-shortened 1981 season from May 31 to August 10.

"They're hot right now and we're as cold as you can get," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We ran into a team that can swing the bats. They make it tough on any pitcher."

Wakefield (4-3) allowed just three hits and a walk in seven innings while tying his season-high with five strikeouts. After allowing a walk to Troy Glaus in the bottom of the first, the knuckleballer retired 16 straight batters before allowing a single to Vernon Wells to lead off the seventh.

"Wakefield was tremendous," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He got into a little trouble early on and struggled to find the plate, but he settled down after that. It was seven clean innings."

The 40-year-old rigththander, who has yielded a run or less in five of his seven starts, leads the American League with a 1.79 ERA.

"So far, so good," Wakefield said. "I try not to think about auxiliary stuff. I've had a lot of luck, but you're only as good as your next start."

With one out in the top of the first, Youkilis hammered a double to right-center field before moving to third base when Halladay threw his pick-off attempt into center field. Youkilis then scored on a groundout by Ortiz to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

The Red Sox broke the game open in the third inning, sending 10 men to the plate. With a runner on second and two outs, Youkilis singled to center field to plate Alex Cora. Ortiz followed with an RBI double before scoring on a single by Manny Ramirez to give Boston a 4-0 lead.

"We had a good two-out rally tonight and I think that's what won us the ballgame," Youkilis said. "We pieced together a lot of hits in a row. (Halladay's) usually great at stopping rallies but today we were very fortunate to have one that never stopped. It's hard for any team to bounce back from a big inning."

After a base hit by J.D. Drew, Lowell sent a 1-2 offering by Halladay over the left field wall to make the score 7-0. It was the third straight game Lowell has homered, all against the Blue Jays. The 33-year-old third baseman has hit five of his seven homers vs. Toronto this season.

"I can't explain it," Lowell said. "It's just one of those fluke things. I see the ball good in this park, and there's definitely some parks that you see the ball better. Extra-base hits come in streaks and hopefully this will keep going."

It was also the ninth homer in this series for the Red Sox, who outscored the Blue Jays 26-5.

Coco Crisp followed the blast with Boston's sixth straight hit, a double down the line in left, before Halladay ended the frame by inducing Doug Mirabelli to groundout.

Halladay surrendered another run in the fourth when Julio Lugo singled, stole second and scored on a double by Youkilis to make it 8-0.

The Toronto ace was tagged for 11 hits in five innings while striking out two. The righthander, who won the 2003 Cy Young Award, has yielded 17 earned runs in his last two starts, the most in back-to-back starts in his career.

"I just didn't make quality pitches again," Halladay said. "You just can't put your team in a hole like that. I didn't get my job done and it left us in a tough spot. I think a lot of guys are pressing right now, including myself."

Wells and Adam Lind each had two hits for the Blue Jays, who were outhit 39-20 in this series.