TORONTO -- The Boston Red Sox erupted for eight runs in the opening inning and cruised to a 12-6 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night at Rogers Centre.
Blue Jays starter Matt Boyd didn't record a single out in his second big-league start. He gave up three singles, back-to-back homers, another single, a wild pitch and a walk before manager John Gibbons finally pulled him.
Toronto (42-39) dropped three of four against its American League East rival and finished the seven-game homestand with a 3-4 record. The Blue Jays entered play in a tie for third place in the division standings, one game behind the front-running Baltimore Orioles.
Many fans in the crowd of 29,758 let out a Bronx cheer when reliever Liam Hendriks got No. 9 hitter Ryan Hanigan to pop up for the first out of the game. Boston (37-44) sent 12 men to the plate in the inning.
Boyd (0-2) allowed seven earned runs -- including a three-run shot by David Ortiz and a solo blast from Hanley Ramirez -- over a 28-pitch outing.
It was the first time in franchise history that the Blue Jays had given up seven first-inning runs before recording an out. It last happened in a major-league game on July 17, 2011, when the Oakland Athletics dumped the Los Angeles Angels 9-1.
Toronto halved the lead in the second inning. Devon Travis hit an RBI single, Josh Donaldson drew a bases-loaded walk and Jose Bautista delivered a two-run single.
The Blue Jays brought the tying run to the plate against Boston starter Wade Miley (8-7) but Chris Colabello hit into a forceout to keep it a four-run game.
Both teams had several chances to add to their run totals in the middle innings. Toronto reliever Bo Schultz loaded the bases in the fourth before escaping by striking out Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval.
The Blue Jays threatened in the bottom half of the frame but Colabello struck out to strand three more runners.
Gibbons was ejected in the fifth inning after an argument with home plate umpire Gerry Davis. The Blue Jays had challenged a tag play at the plate involving Hanigan and Toronto's Danny Valencia, but the call was upheld after a lengthy review.
Boston tacked on three more runs in the seventh inning after some sloppy play by the Blue Jays. Sandoval singled, moved to third after Steve Delabar threw two wild pitches, and scored when Colabello couldn't come up with a grounder at first base that was scored an error but later changed to a hit.
Alejandro De Aza raced to second base on the play and took third on another Delabar wild pitch. De Aza scored on a Mookie Betts single and Xander Bogaerts later brought Hanigan across on an infield single.
Canadian Russell Martin hit a solo shot in the ninth inning and Valencia followed with a homer of his own. It was Martin's 12th homer of the year and the fifth this season for Valencia.
The Red Sox outhit the Blue Jays 19-14. Toronto left 14 runners on base to 10 for Boston.
Notes: The game took three hours 34 minutes to play. ... Miley allowed four earned runs and seven hits over five innings. He struck out two and issued seven walks. ... The eight runs allowed in the opening frame were the most given up by the Blue Jays in any inning this season. ... Ramirez has 16 homers this season, two more than Ortiz. It was the fourth time this year that the Red Sox have hit back-to-back homers. ... Boyd pitched 6 2/3 innings in his big-league debut last week, allowing four earned runs while striking out seven in a losing effort. ... The Blue Jays will kick off a 10-game road trip Friday in Detroit. Right-hander Drew Hutchison (8-1, 4.99 earned-run average) is scheduled to start against Tigers right-hander Anibal Sanchez (6-7, 4.63) ... Toronto announced the signing of international free agent Vladimir Guerrero Jr., before the game. The 16-year-old son of former big-league star Vladimir Guerrero is ranked No. 4 on MLB.com's list of the top 30 international prospects. ... Blue Jays infielder Steve Tolleson cleared waivers Thursday and will be outrighted to triple-A Buffalo.
