Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, right, is congratulated by teammate David Ortiz after hitting a solo home run in the first inning in Toronto last night.

AP / Frank Gunn

TORONTO — Jason Varitek has a hitting streak.

Yes, that Jason Varitek, and he has now hit safely in five straight games.

The Red Sox catcher has struggled at the plate for most of the season, leaving open the question as to whether the organization would re-sign him after his contract expires, at the end of 2008. The fact that he can run a pitching staff as well as any other catcher in the big leagues is very important, but the offensive output hasn’t been there — until this road trip.

He entered last night’s game hitting a lowly .218, along with 10 home runs and 35 RBI. He finished last night’s game by going 2-for-3 with a walk and hit-by-pitch, and he scored three runs to help the Red Sox to an 8-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

With his home run in the sixth inning, Varitek now has hit a homer in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.

“If I hit three singles, no on would be talking about it,” he said.

Even though the numbers haven’t necessarily been there, the Captain feels he has begun to have decent at-bats starting after the All-Star break.

“I just haven’t had the results,” he said. Now “I’m having good results.”

Varitek wasn’t the only one last night to help the Red Sox win.

Newcomer Paul Byrd made his second start for Boston since he came over in a trade with the Indians on Aug. 12 for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The veteran right-hander was good again and recorded his first victory after working six innings and allowing four runs — on two two-run homers. He yielded six hits with two walks and struck out four.

“I’m just glad we won the game,” he said. “I’ve thrown better games. I didn’t pitch my best baseball. It was six innings of survival, but my team picked me up and scored a lot of runs.”

Byrd was having a little trouble with his command, but he was able to work deep enough in the game and hand it over to the bullpen, keeping the Blue Jays scoreless the rest of the way.

“He gathered himself and stayed out there long enough,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “He left with a lead, and our guys did a pretty good job.”

Last night was the third consecutive outing in which Byrd has faced the Blue Jays.

He closed out his Indians career by pitching a complete-game against Toronto, and then lost to the Jays in his Sox’ debut at Fenway Park last Saturday. He is the first pitcher to make three consecutive starts against the same team since San Diego’s Justin Germano did it against Colorado in 2004.

“I’m looking forward to facing somebody other than Joe Inglett leading off the game,” joked Byrd. “I’ll also be excited that Lyle Overbay won’t be in the lineup.”

Because he has faced them so much, Byrd said he felt like he had the advantage over the Jays. Last night he proved it.

“Paul did a good job,” said Varitek. “He made a couple of mistakes — home runs to Alex Rios and Overbay — but it didn’t rattle him. He continued to stay out there and make pitches.”

The Red Sox haven’t had the best of luck against Toronto this season. They entered last night’s game with a 2-6 mark against their A.L. East rivals. In fact, Boston had dropped 10 of the last 12 games to Toronto, dating back to last September.

Earlier this year, the Red Sox were swept in a three-game series at Rogers Centre, but last night the Sox finally had their revenge with the help of Byrd and Varitek.

Dustin Pedroia gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the top of the first inning. He crushed a 1-1 offering from Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum and deposited it into the Toronto bullpen in left field for his 13th homer of the season.

The Blue Jays responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning when Rios smoked a two-run homer off Byrd for a 2-1 advantage.

Boston ripped into Marcum in the top of the fourth inning, scoring four runs en route to a 5-2 lead, but the Jays answered again the home half. Overbay crushed a two-run homer on the first offering from Byrd and lined it into the right-field seats to cut Toronto’s deficit to one run, 5-4.

“I gave up those two home runs, which I’m not excited about,” said Byrd. “We did win the game and I was able to pitch out of a few jams. I’m just real excited to be a part of this team. I’m having a really good time. I’ll take the win and move on.”

Varitek gave Boston a two-run cushion with his solo homer in the sixth inning, which was his second hit of the night. It’s been clear on this trip that Varitek is locked in at the plate, and even Francona and the players have taken notice.

Pedroia recently called Varitek’s resurgence “great,” adding, “Hopefully he can catch fire and keep it going.”

Varitek has done just that.

He’s swinging the bat very well right now and the Red Sox are hoping he can sustain it for the rest of the season.

“Some people stuck with me,” he said, referring to hitting coach Dave Magadan. “We keep working on things. … I’ve been trying to have quality at-bats. I had a good first two months and then I had an awful month and a half — probably the worst month and a half of my career. But since then, I’ve turned more normal and I’ve had a lot of help.”

Varitek isn’t the only one who provided an offensive spark last night.

Coco Crisp, hitting in the No. 9 spot, went 3-for-4 with one RBI, a stolen base and one run scored. Jacoby Ellsbury, the Sox’ lead-off man, drove in a pair of runs, including a RBI single in the top of the eighth inning to score Varitek — who reached first to lead off the inning after getting hit by a pitch — to give Boston a 7-4 lead.

The Sox weren’t done.

Pedroia added his third RBI of the game with a single in the eighth as Boston took an 8-4 lead and held on for the win.

jmcdonal@projo.com