TORONTO (AP) – Shaun Marcum and Jason Frasor combined on a two-hitter, and the Toronto Blue Jays moved into second place in the AL East with a 5-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.
Alex Rios and Bengie Molina homered for the Blue Jays, who are a half-game ahead of Boston. Toronto has finished third in the AL East seven of the past eight years, the exception being a last-place finish in 2004.
The Red Sox have come in second behind the New York Yankees for eight straight seasons.
Toronto, which played its final home game of the year, hadn’t had sole possession of second place since April 26.
The Red Sox played their last road game this season.
Marcum (3-4) allowed only Alex Cora’s infield single in the sixth and Eric Hinske’s single in the eighth. The rookie right-hander struck out a career-high 10 and walked one in a career-best eight innings, the 13th start of his career. Before the game, Toronto manager John Gibbons said the team didn’t know what Marcum’s role would be next year.
Frasor pitched a perfect ninth to complete Toronto’s sixth shutout of the season. The Red Sox were blanked for the seventh time.
Rios hit a three-run homer in the fifth off Tim Wakefield (7-11).
Wakefield didn’t allow a hit until Jason Phillips singled with two outs in the inning. After Wakefield walked Russ Adams, Rios followed with his 17th homer.
Molina’s two-run shot off Wakefield in the sixth made it 5-0.
Wakefield allowed five runs and five hits in six innings. The knuckleballer made his third start after missing nearly two months with a stress fracture in his rib cage.
Attendance was 40,123 for a total of 2,302,212 this season – the Blue Jays’ highest attendance since 1998. Toronto finished 50-31 at home.
Notes: Vernon Wells said he didn’t think he played his last home game for the Blue Jays. Wells, who is eligible for free agency after next season, could be traded if the team is unable to sign him to an extension this offseason. “I don’t think it’s going to be,” Wells said. “I’ve had a great five years here and I hope to have more.” … Ortiz fouled a ball into the fifth deck in right in the seventh. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, leaving him tied with Babe Ruth for the most home runs on the road in a season in AL history (32).
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