Red Sox’s David Ortiz follows through on a solo home run during the seventh inning of last night’s game to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

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AP / Winslow Townson

BOSTON — For the slumping Toronto Blue Jays, this was — as noted baseball philosopher Yogi Berra once famously said — déjà vu all over again.

“It was just like last night,” said beleaguered Jays manager John Gibbons.

Not exactly. But for the Red Sox, it was close enough.

On Tuesday night, it took one ninth-inning single to center with the potential winning run in scoring position to notch a walk-off win. Last night, it took two.

After pinch-runner Jed Lowrie was blocked at the plate, failing to score on a single to center by Brandon Moss, Jason Varitek gave the Sox another chance. His single to center delivered Manny Ramirez, who celebrated the Sox’ 2-1 win over the Blue Jays with an emphatic slam of his helmet.

“It’s not one person every night,” said winning pitcher Jonathan Papelbon, who pitched a scoreless top of the ninth. “It was Tek tonight and [Kevin] Youkilis [Tuesday] night. That’s the beauty of this ballclub. That’s what makes us tick.”

Like Tuesday night, the teams were scoreless deep into the game before David Ortiz gave the Sox a 1-0 edge with a homer into the right-field seats.

But the Jays answered off the Sox’ bullpen in the top of the eighth, working a single off Manny Delcarmen and a double and sacrifice fly against Hideki Okajima to pull even.

The Sox then had Coco Crisp (double) in scoring position with one out in the eighth, but couldn’t snap the tie until the bottom of the ninth.

As was the case in Tuesday’s ninth, Ortiz was the first to reach base, opening with a sharp single that eluded the shift put on against him. When Ramirez joined him on base with a walk, the Sox had two on and none out.

Manager Terry Francona didn’t pinch run for Ortiz in scoring position Tuesday night. But sensing that the slugger’s surgically repaired knee was acting up, sent the rookie Lowrie out to run.

When Brandon Moss drove a single to center, Lowrie seemed poised to score the game-winner. But center fielder Vernon Wells, who juggled Youkilis’ go-ahead single Tuesday, charged Moss’ ball nicely and threw a strike to the plate.

Toronto catcher Rod Barajas expertly blocked the plate and swiped the tag on Lowrie, suspending the Sox’ celebration-in-waiting. A handful of players had inched out of the dugout as Lowrie headed for the plate, confident that a win was imminent.

“I thought I got in there,” said Lowrie recounting the play. “I thought he missed me and I thought I got my right hand in there when I reached back.”

Varitek, who had been 2-for-19 before the ninth and only recently recovered from the flu, followed by driving a pitch from Scott Downs up the middle and into center.

“It shows guys like Tek, they just continue to plug,” said Francona.

Ramirez, who got a nice jump, slid in ahead of Wells’ second throw, which was a bit up the first-base line.

Of the Sox’ 17 wins in March and April, eight have come in their final at-bat.

“It means we’re playing a lot of close games,” said Francona. “But it also means that we continue to play. It’s not always easy, but it’s a heck of lot better to win than lose. Once you do it a couple of times, it kind of creates an atmosphere where the fans and the players alike expect something good to happen. That’s a good feeling.”

“Any win is good,” said Moss. “But when you win on a walk-off, those are the most fun. And to do it off two really good pitchers [Roy Halladay on Tuesday and Dustin McGowan last night] is pretty special.”

The loss was Toronto’s eighth in the last nine games and 11th in their last 14 tries.

“A tight ballgame,” lamented Gibbons. “They’ve been winning those; we haven’t.”

The back-to-back walk-off wins were the first for the Sox since June 24-25, 2006, both against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Sox can thank their starting pitching for putting them in position to win games like the last two. Despite scoring just three runs in the last two games, the Sox won both.

The club is in the midst of a stretch of four games in which its starters have gone at least seven innings and allowed two or fewer runs each time.

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched seven scoreless innings last night, though he was given a no-decision. Matsuzaka yielded just two hits and walked only two while striking out four in his first outing since April 18.

“Our pitching,” said Francona, “has managed to keep us right there and allow a big hit [late] to win the game.”

smcadam@projo.com