Red Sox Decimate Blue Jays, Snap Losing Streak

When Eric Patterson, Bill Hall, Kevin Cash, Daniel Nava, Darnell McDonald, and Ryan Shealy are all in the game in the fifth inning, you've gotta hope it's because the score is already 13-0.

Such was the case for the Red Sox, who battered Ricky Romero, Brian Tallet, and Casey Janssen for fourteen runs en route to a 14-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. After a quiet first inning that did not bode well for the Sox' chances, Adrian Beltre, Mike Cameron, and Bill Hall put together a double, single, and homer to score the first three runs of the game in the second.

They were not even close to being done. Six of the first seven Red Sox to bat in the third reached base (Kevin Youkilis' sacrifice fly with the bases loaded being the lone exception). The Sox would walk and single their way to seven runs in the inning without an extra base hit. Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Beltre, and Mike Cameron capped off the three inning slugfest with solo shots in the fourth.

The Sox finished the night with eight walks, fourteen hits, three doubles, and four home runs. Mike Cameron and Bill Hall each had three hits, while Adrian Beltre reached base four times.

Lost in the midst of the offensive explosion was an on-off performance by Jon Lester. A few loud fouls and fly outs eventually lead to a solo shot by John McDonald in the sixth. John Buck almost followed it up with another left field homer, but missed by just a few inches and had to settle for an RBI double. Still, at times he was clearly dominant, striking out the side (five swinging) in both the third and fifth innings. Two earned in six innings is not a bad night of work at all, and plenty enough for Lester to pick up his eleventh win of the season thanks to the hot bats.