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Thomas the difference as Blue Jays top Red Sox

Apr 5, 2008 - 4:28 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Frank Thomas doubled in a pair of runs to snap a tie in the seventh inning and lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday.

Matt Stairs homered and Lyle Overbay, Marco Scutaro and Aaron Hill each recorded two hits for the Blue Jays.

Thomas helped snap a 3-3 tie in the home half of the seventh as Toronto got to Boston's middle relief for a pair of runs.

David Aardsma (0-1) replaced starter Tim Wakefield to begin the frame and walked David Eckstein in an 11-pitch at-bat. Javier Lopez took over for Aardsma and gave up a hard single by Shannon Stewart before yielding to the third pitcher of the frame, Manny Delcarmen.

The righthander got a pair of quick outs before Thomas drove a double into the gap in left-center field, plating two runs and putting Toronto on top to stay.

"I needed that to get my season going, that was key," Thomas said. "That's what they've got me here for. I've got two great hitters in front of me, so I've just got to be patient and come through when the team needs me."

A pitchers' duel at the start, Shaun Marcum (1-0) was sharp from the beginning for the Blue Jays. The righthander mixed up off-speed pitches with command of his fastball, striking out eight batters in seven innings while allowing three runs and three hits.

Marcum allowed just one hit - a double by Kevin Cash in the third inning - and had retired 11 in a row before walking David Ortiz with one out in the seventh. After coming back to strike out Manny Ramirez, Marcum yielded a single to Mike Lowell.

J.D. Drew came up next and worked the count to 2-2 before hitting a blast over the wall in right-center field to forge a 3-3 tie.

"(Marcum) was very effective," Drew said. "He mixed all his pitches up well and really had me off-balance most of the night. I was just able to keep my hands inside of a nice cutter. I thought it was a pretty good pitch after watching it on tape, but I was able to get in there and put a pretty good swing on it."

"Marcum had handled Drew all night long, and then he made a mistake," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "I think he left it out over the middle of the plate, and they came back and tied it. A lot of times, that sucks the wind out of you, but we bounced back."

Brian Tallet pitched a scoreless eighth and Jeremy Accardo came on in the ninth to record his second save in as many opportunities.

"A lot of times when the Yankees or Boston come in, we can hear the Red Sox and Yankee chants at the same time," Accardo said. "Today, it was fun. It felt like playoff baseball. It just gets everybody pumped up and helps you perform on the field."

Toronto had taken the lead in the sixth, when Stairs led off with a homer off Wakefield. The veteran knuckleballer seemed to lose his command after the blast, issuing a pair of walks before Overbay and Aaron Hill made it 3-0 with back-to-back RBI singles.

Wakefield struck out four in six innings, allowing three runs and three hits while walking three batters.

Hill and Alex Rios, who both signed contract extensions earlier in the day, each scored a run for Toronto, which inducted former second baseman Roberto Alomar into the franchise's "Level of Excellence" during pregame ceremonies.

The win improved the Blue Jays' record in home openers to 24-8.

"The crowd tonight was incredible," Thomas said. "They were into the ballgame and we fed off that energy. Last year, when they were like that, we'd feed off their energy. Hopefully, we can start it early this year with the crowd."