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Sports

Varitek's 4 RBIs help Red Sox edge Blue Jays 13-12

Associated Press
Published | Updated

TORONTO (AP) — Jason Varitek had four RBIs, Marco Scutaro scored a career-high four runs and the Boston Red Sox held off the Toronto Blue Jays 13-12 in a seesaw slugfest Monday night.

Varitek went 3 for 5 with a pair of two-run singles and Scutaro was 3 for 5 with a walk against his former team. Boston set season highs for runs and hits (18) in a wild game that lasted 4 hours, 3 minutes — the longest nine-inning game in the majors this season, according to STATS LLC.

Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer and Lyle Overbay added a solo shot for Toronto, which rallied from an early 5-0 deficit against Josh Beckett. Overbay went 3 for 5 with four RBIs and scored twice.

Scott Schoeneweis (1-0) got one out for the win and Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save.

Shawn Camp (1-1) allowed three runs and four hits in 1 2-3 innings.

Beckett, who had a 6.62 ERA in 12 career starts against Toronto, gave up eight runs and nine hits in three-plus innings, while Toronto's Dana Eveland allowed seven runs and eight hits in three-plus innings.

Boston made it 5-0 with a four-run third. Varitek hit a two-run single and Adrian Beltre followed with a two-run double.

Toronto roared back in the bottom half with a six-run, 10-batter inning. Fred Lewis led off with a triple and scored on Aaron Hill's single. Vernon Wells doubled Hill to third and both runners scored on Overbay's double. After Alex Gonzalez singled, Bautista drilled a first-pitch homer into the second deck in left, his fourth.

Boston reclaimed its lead in the fourth. Eveland left with runners at first and second and was replaced by Jeremy Accardo. After Kevin Youkilis loaded the bases with a single, Accardo uncorked a run-scoring wild pitch. Two batters later, Varitek lined a two-run single to center.

Toronto tied it again in the bottom half. Beckett left after opening the inning with walks to Hill and Adam Lind, and Scott Atchison gave up a two-out, two-run triple to Gonzalez, making it 8-all.

Boston jumped in front again in the fifth when Dustin Pedroia singled off Camp, stole second and scored on a two-out hit by Youkilis, but Toronto tied it in the bottom half on an RBI single by Lind.

The Red Sox took the lead for good with a four-run sixth. Darnell McDonald hit an RBI double, Scutaro singled home a run and Pedroia capped it with a two-run double.

Toronto closed to within one in the eighth on Overbay's RBI single and Bautista's sacrifice fly.

The Red Sox have been involved in the four longest nine-inning games of the year — two against the New York Yankees (3:48 and 3:46) during their season-opening series and one against Texas (3:46) on April 20, according to STATS.

NOTES: Boston RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (neck) threw a 69-pitch simulated game and will make his season debut Saturday at Baltimore, replacing RHP Tim Wakefield in the rotation. ... Toronto was the last team to score six runs in an inning off Beckett, doing it Aug. 17, 2008. ... Attendance was 13,847.