Toronto Blue Jays defeat Boston Red Sox, 3-2

The Red Sox leave on a road trip today, and before he left the clubhouse yesterday, David Ortiz had the mundane duty of packing up his bats.

He fired the pieces of lumber into a black bag one at a time, muttering curses. After the last bat was in place, he zipped the bag and flung it 10 feet across the room, where it knocked over a garbage can with a loud bang.

“Umpires!’’ he shouted to nobody in particular, salting his anger with a few well-placed expletives. “Can y...

BOSTON—Shaun Marcum pitched two-hit ball for seven shutout innings and Travis Snider homered, doubled and drove in all three runs Wednesday, helping the Toronto Blue Jays salvage the final of a three-game series with a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Toronto had lost its previous five games against Boston this season. The Blue Jays closed a 10-game road trip at 7-3.

Marcum (2-1) allowed just two singles to David Ortiz, struck out six and walked one. It's the seventh...

The first three at-bats had not gone well for J.D. Drew, with two called strikeouts and a swinging bunt that was handled by the catcher. He had done nothing, part of a team that had done nothing, but he walked to the plate in the ninth with a chance to make something happen. Kevin Youkilis had singled up the middle, and it was Drew’s turn, with the Red Sox trailing, 3-0.

He did what he has done so often in recent days. Drew delivered, with a double to center field, knoc...

The pitcher who was supposed to start yesterday was relegated to spectator, his ineffectiveness causing him to be pushed back, his back causing him to be skipped entirely. So instead of Josh Beckett — and his 7.46 ERA — the Red Sox watched Tim Wakefield take the mound and battle Toronto’s Shaun Marcum efficiently and effectively for seven innings.

But as well as Wakefield pitched, he failed to get the win the Sox needed to move ahead of the Blue Jays into third place in...