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Wakefield, Red Sox cruise past Blue Jays

Jul 13, 2007 - 3:58 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox looked to Tim Wakefield to get off to a good second-half start.

Wakefield pitched six effective innings and Manny Ramirez drove in three runs as the Red Sox topped the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-4, on Thursday.

David Ortiz had three hits and drove in two runs and J.D. Drew scored twice for Boston. The victory followed a three-game skid prior to the All-Star break for the Red Sox, who at 54-34 own the best record in the major leagues.

Wakefield (10-8) allowed four runs and nine hits en route to his third straight win. The knuckleballer, who struck out two, also has won five straight home games for the first time since August 2-September 6, 2005.

The 40-year-old righthander is 3-1 in four starts against Toronto this season and 15-9 lifetime vs. the Blue Jays, winning eight of his last 10 decisions against the club.

"I thought Tim was strong and I thought he had enough to go more," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He just got us where he needed to and we had our bullpen set up."

Red Sox relievers Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima each tossed a scoreless inning before closer Jonathan Papelbon worked around a hit in the ninth for his 21st save in 22 opportunities.

"We had a great 1-2-3 punch tonight and I think that our bullpen is finding its own identity," Papelbon said. "If we could do that every night, it would be great, but we know we just have to be ready for every situation that comes about."

After Toronto took a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Frank Thomas, Boston gave Wakefield breathing room in the bottom of the frame.

With runners on first and second and none out, Ortiz singled to right field to tie the game. Ramirez added with a run-scoring double, followed by an RBI groundout by Kevin Youkilis that made it 3-1.

Mike Lowell completed the four-run burst with a run-scoring single to left field.

All four runs came off Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay (10-4), who also surrendered a sacrifice fly by Ramirez in the second inning that put his team behind, 5-1.

"I made some good pitches in the first inning but then made some bad ones in the second, which led to some long at-bats," Halladay said.

The 2003 American League Cy Young Award winner allowed five runs, eight hits and a season-high four walks in five innings.

"Roy couldn't do much with his breaking ball," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He just couldn't make good pitches, and sometimes a good-hitting team knocks you around even when you do make good pitches."

Halladay, who was tagged for five runs for the second straight start, is 9-9 lifetime against the Red Sox.

The Blue Jays cut the deficit to 5-2 on a sacrifice fly by John McDonald in the fifth and climbed within a run an inning later.

After Matt Stairs led off by hitting the first pitch he saw from Wakefield into the bullpen in right field for his 14th homer, All-Star Alex Rios smashed a 1-2 offering over the "Green Monster" to reduce Boston's lead to 5-4.

"When (Stairs) hit it, I thought it was an out and unfortunately, sometimes with the wind here, a fly ball gets into the bullpen," Wakefield said. "Rios was the next hitter and I got ahead of him, and thought I threw him a really good pitch. But it was right into his swing path and, unfortunately, it left the ballpark."

However, the Red Sox answered in the bottom half, as Ortiz smacked an RBI double off the center field wall and Ramirez followed with a run-scoring single up the middle.

"When we have a night like tonight, you know that our people can still hit," Ortiz said.

Rios, Vernon Wells and Aaron Hill each had two hits for the Blue Jays, who have lost six of their nine meetings with Boston this season.