Blue Jays Beat Red Sox 6-1
Associated Press | Sep 18, 07 12:00 AM CDT
TORONTO - Frank Thomas hit three home runs to lift the Toronto Blue Jays over the Boston Red Sox 6-1 on Monday night, raising his total to 512 and tying Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews for 18th on the career list.
Thomas homered twice off knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (16-11), then hit his third against reliever Kyle Snyder. Thomas had three homers one other time - hitting all of them off Wakefield at Fenway Park on Sept. 15, 1996.
Dustin McGowan (11-9) pitched a five-hitter, struck out nine and walked none, sending the AL East leaders to their third loss in four games.
Thomas hit a two-run homer in the first, then added a solo shot off the left-field foul pole in the sixth to tie Mel Ott on the career list. Thomas connected again in the eighth to raise his total off Boston pitchers to 40, the most among active players.
It was the fourth multihomer game of the season for Thomas and the 33rd of his career. He also homered Saturday off Baltimore left-hander Kurt Birkins.
Boston began the night with a 4 1/2-game lead over the New York Yankees, who won two of three during a weekend series at Fenway Park.
Wakefield allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings with two walks and two strikeouts. He is 0-1 in three starts since missing a turn on Aug. 31 because of a sore lower back.
McGowan pitched his second complete game in 35 major league starts - he threw a one-hitter against Colorado on June 24, allowing Jeff Baker's leadoff single in the ninth.
McGowan retired his first nine batters before a leadoff single in the fourth by Jacoby Ellsbury, whose 13-game hitting streak ended Sunday night. Mike Lowell lined a two-out RBI double that barely eluded left fielder Adam Lind.
McGowan retired his next 12 batters, a stretch that ended with Alex Cora's two-out double in the eighth. He got some help from his defense, most notably by an over-the-shoulder catch by Vernon Wells, who raced back to the warning track in center to snare Eric Hinske's drive opening the eighth.
Wells led off the first with a walk and scored on Thomas' two-out homer, then drove in Toronto's third run with an RBI grounder in the fifth. Matt Stairs followed with a single, but Wells ended the inning by getting thrown out at third base by center fielder Coco Crisp.
Thomas' second homer made it 4-1 in the sixth, and his third boosted the lead to 6-1 in the eighth.
Notes:@ The Blue Jays matched a season high with three stolen bases. ... Boston had won its prior five games in Toronto. ... Alex Rios reached in the eighth when Cora slipped and fell on his chest while throwing to first.
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