BOSTON — Boston scored in each of the first four innings to back another strong start by Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox held on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Saturday night.
Left fielder Yoenis Cespedes and catcher Christian Vazquez each had an RBI double for the Red Sox, who overcame an early deficit to win for the third time in six games.
Buchholz (7-8) had delivered quality starts in four of his previous five outings and was fresh off a three-hit shutout against Tampa Bay on Aug. 31.
He was nearly as dominant against Toronto.
Buchholz was charged with two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five, walking two and retiring 12 straight batters between the second and fifth innings.
The right-hander allowed one run in the first inning but nothing else before being pulled after hitting second baseman Danny Valencia in the seventh. Craig Breslow then surrendered a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Colby Rasmus that brought the Blue Jays within one.
Drake Britton pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and newly installed closer Edward Mujica secured the final two outs for his fourth save.
Catcher Dioner Navarro had an RBI double for Toronto, which lost for the second straight night after a five-game winning streak.
Left-hander J.A. Happ (9-9) gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings, walking three and striking out five.
Toronto took the lead in the first inning on Navarro’s RBI double, but Boston tied it in the bottom half when center fielder Mookie Betts tripled and scored on second baseman Dustin Pedroia’s groundout.
The Red Sox jumped ahead in the second on an RBI single by third baseman Will Middlebrooks and made it 3-1 in the third on Cespedes’ double.
Vazquez’s double off the Green Monster stretched the lead to 4-1 in the fourth.
NOTES: The game was delayed 1 hour, 12 minutes by thunderstorms. … Boston OF Brock Holt was held out of the lineup after leaving Friday’s game in the top of the 10th inning because of dizziness. … Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia played for the second straight game after missing the previous five because of a concussion. … Toronto 1B Edwin Encarnacion’s first-inning single was only his fourth hit in 27 career at-bats against Boston RHP Clay Buchholz. … Toronto RHP R.A. Dickey (11-12, 3.94 ERA) will oppose Boston RHP Rubby De La Rosa (4-5, 3.89) in the finale of the three-game series Sunday.