Blue Jays Hold Off Red Sox 5-4
BOSTON -- Edwin Encarnacion belted a two-run home run and Marco Estrada took a no-hitter into the eighth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.
Estrada (4-2) held the Red Sox without a hit through 7 1/3 innings before Chris Young's solo homer. He gave up two hits and three walks while striking out five in eight-plus innings.
Jim Bunning was the last pitcher to no-hit the Red Sox at Fenway in 1958 with Detroit.
Jose Bautista, Darwin Barney and Russell Martin hit solo homers for Toronto (31-27), which has won five of its last six and 12 of 16 since ending a season-worst five-game skid.
David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez each hit RBI doubles and Jackie Bradley Jr. had an RBI single in the ninth for Boston (33-24), which dropped two of three in the series after Saturday's 6-4 victory and four of five overall.
Dustin Pedroia also doubled in the ninth, giving him a hit in 26 consecutive games against the Blue Jays -- tied with Jerry Remy for the longest streak against Toronto in major league history.
Ortiz and Pedroia extended their league-leading hitting streaks to 13 games each.
Young also singled in the ninth to put the tying run on second with two outs, but pinch hitter Marco Hernandez struck out to end the game.
Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez (1-1) was erratic in his first start at Fenway this season, allowing five runs on four hits -- all homers -- with three walks and no strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
The 23-year-old southpaw gave up two runs over six innings in a 6-2 win at Baltimore in his season debut last Tuesday after missing Boston's first 51 games with a right patella subluxation.
Toronto received contributions from both ends of the batting order in staking an early lead.
Bautista's leadoff bomb in the first inning -- the sixth of his career and his second of the season -- barely cleared the Green Monster in left field to put Toronto ahead.
Barney, the No. 9 hitter, hit a solo homer in the third that preceded Encarnacion's two-run shot later in the inning. Martin's knocked Rodriguez out of the game with his blast in the sixth.
Boston went hitless through four innings for the fourth time in its last eight games.
