Red Sox 11, Blue Jays 4
BOSTON -- Jackie Bradley Jr. continued his incredible hitting and right-hander Rick Porcello added another step toward resurrecting what had been a lost season at Fenway Park on Monday.
Bradley, who has been baseball's best hitter since Aug. 9, had four more hits, including a home run, and drove in four runs, and Porcello pitched 7 1/3 strong innings to power the Boston Red Sox to their fourth straight win -- an 11-4 pounding of the first-place Toronto Blue Jays.
The Red Sox (65-72) pulled into a tie with the Baltimore Orioles for fourth place in the AL East, two games behind the third-place Tampa Bay Rays.
The loss cut the Blue Jays' lead over the victorious New York Yankees (77-59) in the AL East to a half-game.
Bradley, the talented defensive outfielder, is 37-for-83 (.446) since turning his career around offensively Aug. 9. He singled and scored in the third inning Monday, singled home a run in the fourth, hit his eighth homer -- his seventh since Aug. 9 -- with a man on in the sixth and doubled home a run in the seventh. Twenty-one of his last 30 hits have gone for extra bases, and he's hitting .312 for the season. He was hitting .121 on Aug. 8.
The Red Sox, who had 17 hits, are seven games under .500 -- the closest they have been to breaking even since July 18.
The rotation, a main reason the Red Sox fell into last place, has had four straight strong starts as Porcello allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits. Porcello (7-12) has yielded four earned runs and struck out 22 in three starts since coming off the disabled list.
Boston starters have allowed eight runs in 29 1/3 innings during the winning streak, while the offense, also sketchy as the season fell apart, has produced 33 runs on 49 hits. Going back five games, the Red Sox have 41 runs on 62 hits.
The Red Sox, who also turned four double plays Monday, made short work of left-hander Mark Buehrle (14-7), knocking him out in a season-low 3 1/3 innings (nine hits, five runs).
Boston center fielder Mookie Betts extended his hitting streak to 11 games with three singles, scoring twice and driving in a run. Designated hitter David Ortiz continued his torrid hitting with doubles his first two times up.
Third baseman Josh Donaldson, with the large Blue Jays contingent in the crowd chanting “M-V-P,” hit his 37th homer of the season in the first inning and added two singles for Toronto (78-59).
First baseman Justin Smoak homered in the fifth, and right fielder Jose Bautista greeted reliever Noe Ramirez with a two-run single in the eighth.
NOTES: Toronto RHP Marcus Stroman made his second and quite possibly last rehab start on Monday at Pawtucket. Stroman, who suffered a torn left ACL in spring training and was supposed to miss the season, would be in line to pitch in a four-game series against the Yankees in New York over the weekend. ... Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia, on the disabled list since July 25 (for the second time) with a hamstring strain, is expected to return Tuesday night after undergoing testing earlier in the day. He has played 75 games this season. ... 3B Pablo Sandoval returned to the Boston lineup after missing three games with mid-back tightness. ... Blue Jays RHP R.A. Dickey, 6-0 with two no-decisions in his last eight games, is 0-3 with one no-decision this season against the Red Sox as faces rookie LHP Henry Owens in Tuesday night's middle game of the three-game series. ... The Jays came in having outscored the opposition 209-110 in going 27-7 (9-1-1 in their last 11 series) since July 30.