Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 5
BOSTON -- Edwin Encarnacion belted a solo homer for his 38th of the season, and Moises Sierra and Colby Rasmus each added a two-run shots to lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-5 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night in a matchup of the AL East's worst teams.
A late-season meeting between these teams hardly brought much energy to Fenway Park, especially after starting 1 hour, 18 minutes late due to a rain delay.
The Blue Jays hardly looked like a last place team, but who has appeared to be a lesser team in this lost season for the once highly-priced and severely under-achieving Red Sox.
Once it got going, Boston's offense looked nearly as listless as its crowd.
Before an eighth-inning homer by Dustin Pedroia, cozy Fenway had the feel of a matchup played in spacious parks with little turnouts.
Henderson Alvarez (8-12) snapped a six-game winless stretch by holding the Red Sox to two runs on four hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Felix Doubront (10-8) took the loss and is 0-4 in his last seven starts.
The Blue Jays tied Boston for fourth in the East, seemingly miles behind the three teams -- New York, Baltimore and Tampa Bay -- battling for the division crown.
And these two disappointing clubs have five more to play as they wind down the 2012 season: two here this weekend and three in Toronto next weekend.
The Blue Jays won for just the third time in their last 12 road games, but it was their fourth straight in Fenway -- the most since they won six straight here in 1989.
Mauro Gomez added a two-run homer and drove in three runs for Boston, which lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
Rasmus also had a triple in addition to his 22nd homer.
Coming off a dismal 1-8 west-coast trip -- Boston's worst of nine games since it also lost eight of nine on a west-coast swing in 1989 -- the Red Sox fell behind 1-0 in the first when the Blue Jays jumped ahead against Doubront after just three batters. Brett Lawrie opened the game with a double down the right-field line, advanced on Rasmus' ground out and scored on Encarnacion's sacrifice fly.
Encarnacion's homer -- a shot that caromed off a billboard above the Green Monster seats and back onto the field -- made it 2-0 in the third. He showed his power by going down for a low pitch and lifting a shot nearly one-handed that quickly left the park.
The Blue Jays added a pair of runs in the fourth when Sierra homered into the left-center field seats after Kelly Johnson's two-out walk.
Doubront was pulled in the fifth after giving up Rasmus' leadoff triple. He allowed five runs on six hits, walking two and striking out four.
Alvarez was winless in his last six starts, giving up four runs or more in four of them, but he looked sharp early against the struggling Red Sox.
Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, a hot topic the past few days after a somewhat heated radio interview during a paid weekly appearance with the club's flagship station, was booed a little, but nearly as much as expected when he came out to lift Doubront.
Boston cut it to 5-1 on Dustin Pedroia's fielder's choice grounder in the fifth, a grounder that looked like a sure inning-ending double play. But second baseman Johnson bounced the relay to first.
NOTES: Valentine said before the game that DH David Ortiz, on the 15-day disabled list for the second time since mid-July with a strained right Achilles, may be done for the season. "(GM) Ben (Cherington) mentioned that to me the other day, but I'm not sure that's the official word yet," he said. Ortiz had an injection when the team was on its west coast trip. ... Boston RHP John Lackey, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery last offseason, is scheduled to face live hitters and throw a bullpen session on Saturday. ... Blue Jays manager John Farrell had to answer questions about maybe being pursued again to become Boston's manager this offseason, but gave the usual response that he has a job now. The Red Sox tried to pry Farrell away from Toronto after firing Terry Francona last season, but backed off when the Blue Jays wanted considerable compensation. He has one year left on his contract. ... Toronto's J.P. Arencibia (strained right oblique) and Lawrie (fractured right hand) returned from medical rehabs on Friday. ... Blue Jays LH reliever Darren Oliver, 41, pitched in the seventh. Oliver, who turns 42 on Oct. 6 made his major-league debut with Texas in Fenway at 22-years old on Sept. 1, 1993.
