TORONTO — Right-hander Marcus Stroman continued his comeback from knee surgery with seven strong innings Friday night and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated their Boston Red Sox 6-1.
First baseman Justin Smoak keyed a three-run fourth inning with a two-run double as the Blue Jays (85-62) won their third straight game.
The Blue Jays entered Friday with a 3 1/2-game lead over the second-place New York Yankees in the American League East.
Stroman (2-0), whose season appeared to be over when he had surgery in March for a torn ACL of the left knee, has won both his major-league starts since returning in September.
He allowed six hits, one walk and one run while striking out three.
Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello (8-13) departed after allowing two runs in the sixth inning.
After three straight singles and a force out left the bases loaded with one out in the sixth, a wild pitch by Porcello allowed one run to score. Second baseman Cliff Pennington lofted a sacrifice fly to left to score the other run.
Right-hander Matt Barnes took over for Porcello in the seventh.
Porcello allowed eight hits, two walks and six runs (five earned) and had four strikeouts in six innings. He had won three of his four previous starts with one loss.
The Blue Jays sent in right-hander Liam Hendriks to replace Stroman for the eighth.
Right-hander Aaron Sanchez pitched the ninth.
The Blue Jays took the lead with a third-inning run. Center fielder Kevin Pillar led off with a double on a line drive that glanced off the glove of third baseman Brock Holt.
Pennington sacrificed Pillar to third and left fielder Ben Revere scored him with a groundout to first.
The Blue Jays added three runs in the fourth. Right fielder Jose Bautista led off with a walk. Designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, who grounded into a double play in the first inning, hit another grounder with double-play potential, but Holt failed to come up with the ball and was charged with an error.
Smoak drove in both runners with a double to left-center and scored on a one-out triple to right by shortstop Ryan Goins to make the score 4-0.
The Red Sox came back with a run in the fifth. First baseman Travis Shaw led off with a soft single to center. He was forced at second on a grounder to second by left fielder Rusney Castillo.
Catcher Blake Swihart hit a bloop single to center. Castillo scored from third on an infield single to third by second baseman Josh Rutledge.
NOTES: The Blue Jays and Red Sox will play two spring training games at Olympic Stadium in Montreal April 1-2. It will be the third straight year the Blue Jays have ended their spring training schedule in Montreal, playing the New York Mets in 2014 and the Cincinnati Reds this year. … LHP Rich Hill, who had his contract selected from Triple-A Pawtucket on Sept. 8, will make his second start for the Red Sox on Sunday. The 35-year-old allowed one hit and no runs while striking out 10 over seven innings in a no-decision at Tampa Bay on Sept. 13. Boston won 2-0 in 13 innings. … Toronto RHP R.A. Dickey (10-11, 4.08 ERA) will try for the 100th win of his career Saturday in the middle game of the three-game series when he faces Boston LHP Wade Miley (11-10, 4.41 ERA).
Mets 5, Yankees 1
NEW YORK — Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy and Juan Uribe all homered Friday night and left-handed pitcher Steven Matz remained unbeaten as a major leaguer by throwing six solid innings as the New York Mets beat the New York Yankees 5-1 in the opener of the latest regular season Subway Series ever between the big city rivals at Citi Field.
The Mets (84-63) snapped a two-game losing streak while the Yankees (80-66) fell 4 1/2 games behind Toronto in the American League East by virtue of the Blue Jays’ 6-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
Duda, the Mets’ first baseman, and Murphy, the second baseman, hit tying and go-ahead solo homers in the second and sixth innings, respectively, off Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka. Uribe hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh before Eric Young — pinch-running for Murphy, who tripled — raced home on a wild pitch with one out in the eighth.
The homer by Murphy put Matz (4-0) in line for the win. Matz allowed one run — on a first-inning sacrifice fly by left fielder Chris Young — on seven hits and one walk while striking out four over six innings.