BOSTON — Jarrod Saltalamacchia gave the Boston Red Sox a little momentum, and that was all it took to topple the Toronto Blue Jays.
The slugger hit a tying solo homer with two out in the seventh inning and the Red Sox rallied to beat the Blue Jays 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Saltalamacchia’s line drive to left off reliever Jason Frasor just cleared the Green Monster for his 14th homer, tying it at 1. The Red Sox then loaded the bases on a double, a hit batter and a walk before Dustin Pedroia drove in two with a single up the middle.
Saltalamacchia is already closing in on his career high of 16 homers, set two years ago when he shared catching duties with former captain Jason Varitek.
“He’s playing a confident brand of baseball because he believes in himself and he’s a talented player,” manager Bobby Valentine said. “Some things that might have haunted his past just seem to be gone and he’s just playing the game of baseball. Looks good doing it.”
Adrian Gonzalez and Will Middlebrooks each drove in a run in the eighth and Boston’s bullpen completed a solid start by Daisuke Matsuzaka, helping the Red Sox win for the eighth time in 10 games.
“I feel like any given night, it’s someone different,” said Mike Aviles, who drew a rare walk to load the bases in the seventh for Pedroia.
“Every night you never know who’s going to be the hero and that makes the game intriguing for us.”
The rally spoiled a strong performance by Aaron Laffey in his first start in nearly two years. Laffey stepped in for Toronto’s depleted rotation and pitched six crisp innings, allowing three hits with two walks. Laffey retired 12 straight batters after Aviles’ leadoff single in the first.
“Aaron Laffey pitched a heck of a six innings for us,” manager John Farrell said. “He gave us six outstanding innings — shutout innings. We were up 1-0.”
But that isn’t enough at Fenway Park, where the Red Sox had been struggling earlier but improved to 6-2 on a nine-game homestand that wraps up Wednesday afternoon against the Blue Jays.
Andrew Miller (2-0) recorded an out in the seventh to pick up the win. Vicente Padilla pitched a perfect eighth, striking out two and setting up Alfredo Aceves for a 1-2-3 ninth.
After Saltalamacchia went deep, pinch-hitter Ryan Kalish doubled to right against Luis Perez (2-2). David Pauley came out of the bullpen and hit Daniel Nava with a pitch. Pauley then walked Aviles and Pedroia’s hit made it 3-1.
“It seems like it’s been so long since he’s been in that opportunity late in the game where he could win the game,” Valentine said. “It presented itself and he drove the runs in. That really gives us strength.”
Matsuzaka went 5 2-3 innings, allowing five hits. He struck out five and walked one.
Brett Lawrie led off the game with a double to center and scored on a two-out single by Edwin Encarnacion, putting Toronto ahead 1-0.
Pedroia walked with one out in the sixth and tried to scamper home on David Ortiz’s double off the Green Monster, but Rajai Davis recovered after misplaying the hop and threw a straight shot to catcher Jeff Mathis in time for the tag.
NOTES: The series is tied 1-1 and concludes with an afternoon game Wednesday. Boston’s Jon Lester (4-5) is scheduled to face Ricky Romero (8-1). … The Red Sox announced RHP Clay Buchholz experienced erosion of his esophagus, and the condition caused internal bleeding. The team says he is doing well and is expected to make a complete recovery. … Laffey’s previous start was July 19, 2010. … Davis led off the second with a single, but Matsuzaka picked him off first.
YANKEES 6, INDIANS 4: Phil Hughes bounced back from a rough outing to pitch eight scoreless innings and Alex Rodriguez hit a long home run Tuesday night, leading the New York Yankees to a 6-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Hughes (8-6) gave up six hits and a walk to win for the fifth time in six decisions. He worked with runners on base in five innings. He lasted only 4 1-3 innings in his previous outing.
Curtis Granderson had a two-run single and Chris Stewart added an RBI hit as several bounces went New York’s way against Justin Masterson (4-7) in the second inning.
The Yankees got a break in the seventh, too, when Yankees left fielder Dewayne Wise fooled third base umpire Mike DiMuro into thinking he made a stupendous catch flipping into the stands in foul territory down the left field line with two outs and a runner on third base.
After a wait of several seconds for Wise to emerge from the stands, DiMuro called it a catch and birthday boy Derek Jeter was the first to greet Wise. Jeter, of course, made one of his most famous catches diving head first into the stands in left. Replays, though, showed the ball hitting off Wise’s glove as he fell to the ground and out of view.
Little is going right for the Indians, losers of four straight. In their previous four games Cleveland scored just five runs. They scored four runs against Cory Wade in the ninth on Johnny Damon’s RBI single and Jose Lopez’s three-run homer. Lopez was in for third baseman Jack Hannahan, who was ejected in the eighth.
Rafael Soriano got one out for his 16th save.
On the flip side, the Yankees can do little wrong these past few weeks. Rodriguez’s monster shot in the seventh off Tony Sipp into the second deck in left field was No. 642 of his career and helped the Yankees to their fourth straight win and 14th in 17 games.
Entering Tuesday, New York had scored 16 of their last 21 runs by the long ball. But Masterson had never allowed a homer to the Yankees in eight outings and that held true. So the Yankees played small-ball against the pitcher with a 1.24 ERA in June and a streak of having not given up an earned run in 20 1-3 innings coming in.
Mark Teixeira walked leading off the second inning but was taken out at second base on Nick Swisher’s fielder’s choice. After out No. 2, Wise, starting a second straight game after homering Monday night, singled. Stewart hit a hot shot down the third base line that hit off a diving Hannahan’s glove for a run-scoring single.
Jeter then hit a bouncer that deflected off Masterson’s lower leg and he reached safely to load the bases. Granderson followed with a two-run opposite-field single to left-center to make it 3-0.
Granderson walked leading off the fifth and advanced to third on Robinson Cano’s broken-bat blooper to short center field. Teixeira drove him in with a fly to center.
The Bleacher Creatures chanted “Hap-py Birth-day!” for Jeter instead of his name during roll call. Fans gave a big cheer when the newly 38-year-old captain gave a wave.
NOTES: Indians DH Travis Hafner (minor right knee surgery) will begin a rehabilitation assignment Wednesday at Triple-A Columbus. There is no set amount of games scheduled yet, manager Manny Acta said. … RHP Carlos Carrasco (elbow reconstruction surgery last September) threw from a mound. “It’s encouraging to see him throw the bullpen the way the ball was coming out of his hand today,” Acta said, adding Carrasco is on track to return next season. … The Yankees claimed RHP Danny Farquhar off waivers from Oakland and optioned him to Double-A Trenton. To make room on the 40-man roster, they transferred OF Brett Gardner to the 60-day DL. Manager Joe Girardi says there is little chance Gardner (elbow) will return before the All-Star break.