TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays are finally starting to look a little more like the team that won a division title last season.
Russell Martin drove in the tying run with two outs in the ninth and Devon Travis brought him home with an infield single to give the Blue Jays a wild 10-9 walkoff victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.
Boston appeared to have the game in hand but Toronto fought back to tie it with a four-run eighth inning. David Ortiz restored Boston's lead with a solo shot in the ninth but the Blue Jays rallied off closer Craig Kimbrel to extend their winning streak to four games.
"With the potency in our lineup, I feel like no lead is really big enough," Martin said.
Toronto has won seven of its last nine games and is back over the .500 mark at 26-25. The Blue Jays have won three series in a row and the offence is finally starting to click.
Martin, who struggled mightily at the plate over the first six weeks of the season, looks like he's regaining his form. He hit a solo homer in the sixth inning and had his first three-hit game since last October.
"All you can ask for in that opportunity is a chance to get up and to help your team win," Travis said of his teammate. "All game long he was huge for us."
Kimbrel (0-2) got the last two outs in the eighth inning and picked up two quick outs in the ninth. But Justin Smoak kept things going with a single and pinch-runner Ezequiel Carrera stole second and took third on an errant throw.
The sellout crowd of 48,154 at Rogers Centre roared when Martin smacked a pitch to the gap in left-centre field to bring home the tying run.
"That's a good piece of hitting," Kimbrel said. "I left it up and he drove it and I think there are times when you throw bad pitches and guys pop them up, and there are times when you throw good pitches and guys hit line drives. So it was disappointing."
Martin, a Toronto native who grew up in Montreal, took third on a wild pitch and came across when the speedy Travis legged out a single. First baseman Hanley Ramirez couldn't squeeze Travis Shaw's low throw to first base from across the diamond.
"I was just trying to battle and put the ball in play," Travis said. "Good things happen sometimes when that happens. So that was my goal, just to put it in play."
Xander Bogaerts and Shaw also homered for the Red Sox, who scored four runs in the fifth inning and tacked on two more in the sixth against Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman.
Ramirez drove in three runs for the Red Sox (29-20), who have lost three in a row. Gavin Floyd (2-3) worked an inning of relief for the victory.
Toronto scored three runs in the third inning off Red Sox starter Rick Porcello. He worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs, seven hits and a walk. He had five strikeouts.
In the eighth, Michael Saunders and Smoak reached against reliever Tommy Layne. Junichi Tazawa came on and Martin hit a flare that scored Saunders from second base.
Travis followed with a double that scored Smoak and a wild pitch allowed Martin to come across. Tazawa struck out pinch-hitter Jimmy Paredes before being replaced by Kimbrel, who fanned Kevin Pillar before giving up a game-tying RBI single to Jose Bautista.
Stroman worked 5 1/3 innings and gave up seven earned runs, 11 hits and a walk while striking out five.
Notes: It was Toronto's eighth home sellout of the season. ... Before the game, the Blue Jays placed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on the 15-day disabled list due to a quadriceps strain and activated pitcher Aaron Loup. The left-handed reliever suffered a forearm flexor strain during spring training. Loup came on in the seventh inning and struck out both batters he faced. ... Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban, wearing a No. 76 jersey with "Subbanator" on the back, took a few swings in the batting cage before the game. ... Home plate umpire Mike DiMuro left the game in the second inning after he was struck in the face mask by a foul ball. Crew chief Brian Gorman moved behind the plate from second base. ... Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (2-6, 4.60 earned-run average) will start Sunday's series finale against former Blue Jays ace David Price (7-1, 5.34).
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