Red Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie is unable to corral a single hit by the Blue Jays’ Lyle Overbay in the fourth inning last night at Fenway Park.

>

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

BOSTON — Red Sox manager Terry Francona knew the surging Blue Jays were coming to Fenway Park feeling very good about themselves.

Toronto arrived here with a 9-1 record this month, and with seven games remaining against Boston — four here and three at the Rogers Centre next weekend — the Blue Jays have a chance to play spoiler in the A.L. East. This series for the Red Sox — like the last against the first-place Rays where Boston dropped two of three — could be dangerous.

“They are as hot as any team in the majors right now,” said Red Sox catcher Kevin Cash.

Entering last night’s game the Blue Jays had beaten Boston four of the last six times, and outscored the Red Sox, 42-19.

With 16 games remaining in the regular season, the Blue Jays have the ability to be a stealth opponent in the next week with solid pitching and dangerous hitting. Francona knows it. His players know it. Toronto knows it. So, it was up to veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to set the tone.

He answered in a big way, helping Boston to a 7-0 victory.

Wakefield worked eight scoreless innings (94 pitches, 65 strikes) and allowed only three hits with four strikeouts and no walks. He retired the last 13 batters he faced before he was lifted in favor of reliever Manny Delcarmen in the top of the ninth inning.

“[Wakefield] was very good,” said Francona. “It was exactly what we needed. He threw a lot of strikes. Because he was pitching so well, we didn’t get anyone up until the eighth inning. Wins are always the most important, but being able to stay away from [the bullpen] was big, too.”

Wakefield’s outing was opposite from his last.

In his last game, in Texas, Wakefield lasted only 1 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs on four hits and four walks. It was his shortest outing since 1993.

“Obviously it was a lot better,” said Wakefield. “Physically I felt great. Even in Texas I felt great, I just couldn’t find the strike zone. I had too much movement and wasn’t able to rebound. Obviously getting through eight (last night) was a huge swing from last time.”

Cash, Wakefield’s personal batterymate, knew his partner would bounce back from that Texas outing. The catcher said it’s not that the knuckler wasn’t working last weekend, the pitch was just all over the place and Wakefield had trouble finding the strike zone.

Not last night.

“We read the papers and we see the standings on the wall every night, we know where they’re at,” said Cash. “We needed to set the tone.”

Wakefield did.

The game was delayed 41 minutes due to rain, and the showers continued for the majority of the game. For Wakefield, pitching in those type of conditions isn’t easy, which made his performance that much more impressive.

“It’s not easy,” he said. “Thankfully it wasn’t raining hard enough to really affect me. Heavy rains can affect me because I’m trying to hold the ball with my fingertips, and if the ball gets any kind of wetness or dampness it’s pretty tough.”

Offensively, rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie gave Wakefield and the Red Sox the early spark they needed. He provided a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second inning to give Boston a 1-0 advantage, and then contributed a RBI double in the fourth for a 2-0 lead.

“We get a lot of guys on base here,” he said. “The more opportunities you get, there are more opportunities for you to drive in runs.”

Meanwhile, Wakefield kept the Blue Jays at bay and retired 13 consecutive batters from the fourth to the eighth inning.

Boston added to its slim margin in the bottom of the seventh when Lowrie led off with a double, narrowly missing a home run over the left-center field wall. Cash followed and struck out looking before Crisp reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners.

Dustin Pedroia, who doubled in his second at-bat of the game and now has 48 on the season to lead the majors, popped out to center before David Ortiz ripped a two-run, two-out double to right field to give Boston a 4-0 lead.

Boston added to its lead for good measure in the bottom of the eighth inning when Cash crushed a three-run homer off Toronto reliever Jason Frasor to give the Red Sox a 7-0 advantage.

With the game out of reach, Wakefield was done for the night and Delcarmen finished the job. Even though he could have worked a complete game, Wakefield knew it was best to come out when he did.

“Due to the fact I was on the DL two weeks ago, they want to protect me for my next start,” he said. “It’s always nice to go back out in the ninth to try it, but the smart thing was stop it there.”

Lowrie, Ortiz and Cash were the offensive catalysts last night, especially with the club hitting a lowly .217 against Toronto this season, the lowest average against any opponent.

At this time last season Wakefield’s shoulder and back had failed him. He was attempting to pitch through the discomfort, but eventually was shut down in the postseason. Right now he feels different.

“I feel great,” he said. “I feel a lot better than I did last year, that’s for sure. The injections and rest have really worked. I feel like it’s April or May for me.”

Last night he pitched like it was October.Red Sox

7

Blue Jays

0

Next Games

Today

vs. Toronto,

12:35, 7:05 p.m.

jmcdonal@projo.com