Recap: Toronto vs. Boston
Sports Network | August 23, 2008
Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Vernon Wells went 4-for-5, homered twice, drove in three runs and scored four times in Toronto's 11-0 thrashing of the Boston Red Sox in the second of a three-game set.
Jesse Litsch (9-7) blanked the Red Sox for six innings, giving up only three hits while fanning four and walking three. Alex Rios and Kevin Mench each had three hits, and Marco Scutaro also homered for Toronto, which has won five of seven.
Jon Lester (12-5) was ripped for seven runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings, with two strikeouts and two walks. The Red Sox managed only four hits and left nine runners on base in the loss, their third in four games with the Blue Jays over the past week.
Boston can rebound and win this three-game set in Sunday's rubber match, though.
Wells put the Blue Jays in front early with a two-run shot to left with two outs in the first. Jose Bautista's sacrifice fly added another run in the second, then Toronto blew the game open with four more runs in the third.
Wells led off the frame with a single, and Adam Lind reached on an infield single. Rod Barajas drove in Wells with a groundout, and Lyle Overbay followed with a double to left, plating Lind. Mench's double to left drove home Overbay and, after John McDonald's single ended Lester's day, Chris Smith gave up a sacrifice fly to Scutaro to give the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead.
Overbay's two-run single in the fourth pushed Toronto's lead to 9-0. Then the Blue Jays went deep twice in the fifth to take an 11-run lead. Scutaro led off with a long ball to left, his sixth of the season, and Wells went deep for the second time, his 12th of the season, with two outs to put the Red Sox in an 11-0 hole.
Litsch left after six innings, and Jesse Carlson, Brandon League and B.J. Ryan tossed three shutout innings of relief, allowing only one hit between them.
Tim Wakefield is slated to return to the mound for the Red Sox on Tuesday when they open a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. Wakefield has been sidelined since August 6 with tightness in the back of his right shoulder...The Red Sox pushed Josh Beckett back for a second time this week due to numbness in his right hand. Beckett was originally slated to start Saturday, then Tuesday against the Yankees. He will instead try to go on Friday, when Boston opens a three-game set at home against the Chicago White Sox...The Red Sox fell to 3-14 on artificial turf this season.
