Red Sox bullpen blows Tim Wakefield's try at 200th win as Jays rally for victory

TORONTO -- In the final weeks of the season, Blue Jays right-hander Brandon Morrow is stumbling toward the finish line.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning and Toronto rallied to deny Tim Wakefield his 200th career win, beating the Boston Red Sox 11-10 on Wednesday night.

Shawn Camp (4-3) pitched one inning for the win and Frank Francisco survived a two-run ninth to record his 13th save in 17 chances.

The late rally took Morrow off the hook for what would have been his fourth straight loss. Morrow has won just once in his past seven starts.

"The win makes it easier to swallow but it's been a really frustrating stretch," Morrow said. "It's just something I've got to try to learn from."

Blue Jays manager John Farrell acknowledged Morrow, who has already set a career high in innings, may be dealing with fatigue but said he doesn't intend to remove him from the rotation.

"This is the time of year when you've got to understand the kind of stuff you have on a given night and make that effective and go out and win with it," Farrell said. "He might be battling a little fatigue, but that doesn't mean we're not going to keep giving him the ball."

Toronto trailed 8-6 heading into the eighth against Daniel Bard (2-6), who opened the inning by hitting Brett Lawrie and giving up a single to Adam Loewen, the former pitcher's first career hit. J.P. Arencibia walked before Bard struck out Dewayne Wise and caught Yunel Escobar looking. But the Blue Jays tied it when Bard issued consecutive walks to Eric Thames and Jose Bautista.

Matt Albers came on and gave up a three-run double to Encarnacion, who went 2-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and matched a career high with five RBIs.

Wakefield has not won since July 24 against Seattle, a span of seven appearances. Bard said the knuckleballer made sure he didn't hang his head after coughing up the lead.

"When I got in the clubhouse, he was the first guy to come up and shake my hand, pat me on the back," Bard said. "He knows how hard I'm trying. To be that close to getting out of it with the lead intact makes it even tougher. We're trying for him. He did his job today and I didn't do mine."

Bard, who allowed five earned runs, saw his ERA rise from 2.10 to 2.76. He came in having allowed just one earned run in his previous 10 outings.

"I guess it proves he's human," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Once you get to him you feel pretty good. It was a battle the whole inning. He just couldn't get the last out."

Adrian Gonzalez led off the ninth with his 24th home run, snapping Francisco's streak of 16 scoreless innings. David Ortiz followed with a single, took second on a grounder and scored on a two-out hit by Marco Scutaro before pinch runner Mike Aviles was thrown out trying to steal second on an 0-2 pitch to Josh Reddick.

"It's probably the best pitch to get thrown out on," Aviles said. "It wasn't a pitchout but it was up and out. It just didn't work out well."

Farrell called it "a fitting ending to an otherwise crazy game."

Jacoby Ellsbury homered and finished with four hits and Ortiz also went deep, but it wasn't enough for the Red Sox, who missed a chance to gain ground on the first-place Yankees, who lost to Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon.

Wakefield allowed five runs, four earned, and three hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out three.

"I struggled the first three innings throwing strikes and put a lot of pressure on those guys from the sixth on through the ninth," Wakefield said. "I take the blame for not getting deeper in the game."

The Red Sox gave Wakefield an early lead by scoring three times in the first against Morrow. Kevin Youkilis was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Scutaro hit a two-run single to center.

Toronto answered with a run in the bottom half on Encarnacion's sacrifice fly, then tied it on Arencibia's two-run drive to center in the second.

The homer was Arencibia's 21st of the season, the most in a season by a Blue Jays catcher. John Buck hit 20 for Toronto in 2010.

The Blue Jays took a 5-3 lead by scoring twice in the third. Thames was hit by a pitch, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Bautista's double. Two outs later, Lawrie walked and Bautista stole third. Then, when Lawrie stole second, Bautista broke for home on catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia's throw to second, sliding in ahead of a wide return throw from shortstop Scutaro.

Bautista is the first player to steal home and hit at least 40 homers in the same season since Adam Dunn did it with Cincinnati in 2004.

Boston reclaimed the lead with a four-run fourth. Reddick hit an RBI double and Ellsbury drilled a three-run blast to right, his 25th.

Ortiz made it 8-5 with a solo shot to right in the fifth, his 29th.

Morrow left after Youkilis followed with a single. The right-hander allowed eight runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Toronto cut it to 8-6 against Dan Wheeler in the seventh when Escobar hit a leadoff double and scored on a two-out base hit by Encarnacion.

Game notes
The Red Sox are 73-3 when leading after seven innings. ... Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 12 games. ... Boston RHP Josh Beckett (right ankle) was scheduled to rejoin the team Wednesday after traveling back to Boston Tuesday to visit doctors. ... Red Sox RHP Clay Buchholz (back) made 60 throws at over 100 feet Wednesday. He'll take Thursday off, then throw from 120 feet Friday. ... Loewen made his major league debut as a position player. He was a former pitcher with Baltimore, but elbow injuries forced Loewen off the mound in July 2008. He's been playing in Toronto's minor league system since 2009. ... Youkilis has been hit by a pitch 81 times, the most in Red Sox history.