Beckett got the ball in the top of the first and Yunel Escobar led off by grounding out to third to start. Adrian Gonzalez made a nice stab to rob Corey Patterson of a hit and Jose Bautista flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time getting to Jays starter Jo-Jo Reyes to begin the bottom of the first as Jed Lowrie beat out an infield single to short to start. Dustin Pedroia walked and Adrian Gonzalez dropped a base hit to right to score Lowrie with the first run. Kevin Youkilis doubled into the right field corner to score Gonzalez and David Ortiz walked to load the bases with nobody out. The rally ended as Mike Cameron stook strike three, Jason Varitek went down hacking and Darnell McDonald grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
The Jays struck back in the top of the second although Adam Lind froze for strike three to start. Aaron Hill doubled off the Monster and scored on the Travis Snider base hit. Snider swiped second but Jayson Nix took strike three. Snider swiped third but Jose Molina took a curveball for strike three to end the inning with the Jays down 2-1.
The Sox scored again in the top of the third as Jacoby Ellsbury walked to start. Lowrie then launched his first home run of the season into the Monster Seats to increase the lead. Pedroia grounded out to third but Gonzalez walked. Youkilis popped up to first in foul territory but Gonzalez moved to second on a wild pitch. Ortiz took strike three to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 4-1.
Beckett cruised in the top of the third as John McDonald took strike three to start. Esocbar grounded out to second and Gonzalez made a great diving stab to rob Patterson of a hit to end the inning. Cameron singled up the middle but Varitek banged into a double play to kill a potential bottom third rally. McDonald blooped a broken bat single to right and Ellsbury was plunked, but Lowrie flied out to right to end the inning.
Beckett got Bautista to ground back to him to start the top of the fourth. Lind hit one off of Beckett over to Pedroia who threw Adam out by a foot. Hill walked and stole second but Snider grounded out to second to end the inning. Pedroia grounded a base hit into right to start the bottom of the fourth and Gonzalez walked to chase Reyes. Former Sox pitching coach and current Blue Jays manager John Farrell replaced him with Carlos Villanueva. Youkilis banged into double play but Ortiz walked to put runners at the corners. Cameron struck out swinging to end the inning.
Beckett kept up the pace in the top of the fifth as Nix struck out swinging to start. Molina singled off the left field scoreboard but broke up a double play ball hit by McDonald. Escobar grounded out to second to end the inning. Varitek led off the bottom of the fifth with a fly out to right and McDonald popped up to second. Ellsbury walked and stole second but Lowrie flied out to left to end the inning.
Beckett blew away Patterson to start the top of the sixth and Bautista popped up to second. Lind walked but Hill was rung up for strike three to end the inning. Pedroia began the bottom of the sixth by flying out to right. Gonzalez also flied out to right and Youkilis struck out swinging to end the inning.
Beckett came back for one more inning in the top of the seventh and Snider took strike three to start. Nix went down hacking and Molina lined out to first to end the inning. That was it for Beckett who was outstanding, tossing 7 innings of 1 run ball. He gave up just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out nine.
Octavio Dotel came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Ortiz walked to start. Cameron dumped a base hit to left and Varitek moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. JD Drew pinch hit for McDonald but only popped up to third. Luis Perez came in to pitch to Ellsbury and got him to ground out to third to end the inning.
Daniel Bard came in for the top of the eighth inning and McDonald singled in the hole at short to start. McDonald was thrown out by a mile trying to steal and Patterson grounded out to first to end the inning. Lowrie beat out an infield single to short to start the bottom of the eighth but was erased on the strike em out, throw em out double play on Pedroia. Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Jonathan Papelbon came in to close out the top of the ninth and Cameron leaped up against the scoreboard to rob Bautista of a hit to begin. Lind struck out swinging on a splitter but Hill hit one off the glove of Youkilis to extend the inning. Hill took second and third on defensive indifference but Snider popped up to a sliding Cameron to end the game. The Sox finally won a game with a 4-1 victory over Toronto.
Hero of the Night is Josh Beckett. He was outstanding by tossing 7 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9 batters.
The Good:
Jed Lowrie was 3 for 5 with a 2 run homer and 2 total runs scored.
Adrian Gonzalez was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and an rbi.
David Ortiz walked 3 times in four plate appearances.
Mike Cameron was 2 for 4.
Darnell McDonald was 1 for 3.
Jacoby Ellsbury walked twice, was hit with a pitch, stole a base and scored a run.
Daniel Bard tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
Jonathan Papelbon earned his second save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
JD Drew was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Jason Varitek was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Kevin Youkilis was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
On the same night that the Boston Bruins lost to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 2 of their first round NHL playoff series, the Sox at least gave Boston sports fans something to cheer for. They finally won a game and this may well be the start back to respectability. Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz are too good not to turn it around and Beckett seems to have it figured out. Beckett was great against the New York Yankees and he was great again today against the Jays. I've been saying the past two weeks that there's too much talent on the team to play this badly and at some point things will turn around. The offense was held to just 4 runs but Beckett came through with a good game. Bard and Papelbon locked it down and the Sox are going to need those two if they want to shorten games moving forward. At some point the offense will come but the Sox are going to need Dice K and John Lackey to step up at some point....or find someone that will. The Sox look to take Game 3 of this series tomorrow afternoon when Jon Lester (0-1) looks to get in the win column against Jesse Litsch of the Jays. The game begins at 1:30 PM at Fenway Park.
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