TORONTO — Clay Buchholz’s third major-league start didn’t go anything like his second.

For one thing, he allowed a hit — five, in fact — after tossing a no-hitter in his last start, Sept. 1 against Baltimore.

For another, instead of finishing the game, Buchholz was limited to 70 pitches and came out with two outs in the fifth.

Finally, instead of making history, he was last night tagged with the loss.

“It’s such a structured program, that was it,” said manager Terry Francona of the limit.

Buchholz pitched fairly well through four innings, allowing just two baserunners. But in the fifth, the Jays reached him for two runs on four hits and a walk.

The pitcher had only himself to blame for the second run, since it came following a poor fielding decision on his part. With one run in and runners on first and second with no out, Toronto shortstop Ray Olmedo bunted.

Buchholz fielded the ball toward the third-base side of the mound and attempted to send Mike Lowell a backhand shovel pass to force Adam Lind, the lead runner. But the ball sailed well wide of Lowell into foul territory and Lind scored.

“It was mental lapse, I guess,” said Buchholz. “I think I might have had him if I didn’t double-clutch.”

“There was no play,” disagreed Francona. “He was trying to make a play that wasn’t there.”

Okajima shut down

Alarmed by his ineffective appearances this month, the Red Sox have shut down reliever Hideki Okajima, citing fatigue, just a week after Francona admonished reporters for questioning his durability.

Shelled for four runs in the Red Sox’ crushing 8-7 loss to the Yankees last Friday night, Okajima was told not to pick up a ball for a few days. He played catch Tuesday and was scheduled to do so again yesterday.

“He’s not been available,” confirmed Francona yesterday before the series finale with the Blue Jays last night. “We shut him down for a couple of days. When we feel it’s the right thing to do, there’s an (evaluation) process we follow very closely. Basically, it’s common sense.”

Francona said while some pitchers register fatigue with a drop-off in velocity, Okajima has instead struggled with his location, leaving too many pitches over the plate last Friday.

Asked yesterday if he was disappointed by the enforced layoff, Okajima said: “No, because I want to be game-ready when I go out and pitch, instead of being in so-so condition.”

He added that he was taking the layoff to “get relaxed,” and said the down time was an opportunity “to concentrate.”

After pitching in 57 games without once giving up more than a run in any single appearance, Okajima has yielded multiple runs in three of his last seven outings, nearly doubling his ERA from 1.17 to 2.28.

Stuck in neutral

It now seems unlikely that Manny Ramirez will return to action before the end of the road trip.

Ramirez (strained left oblique) feels the injury “grab at him” when he runs, according to Francona.

“We’re stuck there,” said Francona. “He’s taking (batting practice), but there’s some reluctance to let it loose. It’s frustrating that we don’t have his bat in the lineup, but he’s not ready to play. … We got excited because he started swinging and didn’t have any repercussions. (But) guys who have had this have been in the three- to four-week range (to recover). You don’t know.”

A heads-up play

In one more display of his terrific baseball instincts, Lowell caught Adams napping at third base and turned it into an out.

In the fifth inning, Adams had advanced from first to third after Buchholz’s throw went into left field. Left fielder Bobby Kielty retrieved the ball and threw it back in to Lowell. As Adams dusted himself off, Lowell hesitated before throwing the ball back to Buchholz, anticipating that Adams might be off the bag. He reached back and slapped a tag just as Adams lifted his foot inches off the bag and third base umpire Joe West called the baserunner out.

Around the bases

Before Aug. 12, the Red Sox had lost only two games in which they led after seven innings. Since then, the Sox have lost four times in games in which they led after seven — and Eric Gagne has pitched in three of those: Aug. 12 at Baltimore; Aug. 17 against Los Angeles and Tuesday night here. … Tuesday night, the Sox surpassed the 3-million mark in road attendance for the second time in franchise history. The team also played in front of 3 million on the road in 2005. .. When Gagne walked three hitters in the same inning (the eighth) Tuesday night, it was just the second time that’s happened since the start of the 2002 season, covering 289 appearances. He walked three against San Francisco on Sept. 24, 2004. … David Ortiz matched his career-high for doubles when he hit 47th Tuesday night. All except one of those doubles have come as a DH, leaving Ortiz four behind the single-season doubles mark of 50, set by Edgar Martinez in 1995. Only five players in Red Sox history have ever hit more than 47 doubles in a season. Earl Webb hit a club-record 67 in 1931.

smcadam@projo.com