Walker hits tie-breaking homer in seventh

BOSTON (AP) -- Maybe the Red Sox still can make a run at the AL East title.

Todd Walker hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning as the Red Sox overcame a three-run deficit against Roy Halladay and beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 Wednesday night for their sixth win in seven games.

"That's special," Boston manager Grady Little said. "This guy's had our number out there all season long."

Halladay had been 2-0 with a 4.26 ERA in five starts against the Red Sox this season.

"The guys battled back against a great pitcher," Boston starter John Burkett said. "We battled back against maybe the Cy Young Award winner this year."

Boston, which trailed by 7{ games last week, moved four games back of the AL East-leading New York Yankees, who visit Fenway Park for a three-game series beginning Friday. The Yankees lost 11-2 to Chicago.

In the wild-card race, the Red Sox entered the night one game behind Oakland and Seattle, who shared the AL West lead.

With the score 3-all, Walker connected on an 0-2 pitch from Halladay (17-6) for a two-run homer. He became the ninth Boston player with 10 or more homers, a Red Sox first.

David Ortiz added an eighth-inning solo homer for Boston, which tied the game in the fifth on a three-run homer by Jason Varitek. The All-Star catcher has a career-high 79 RBI.

Halladay, tied with Chicago's Esteban Loaiza for the AL lead in wins, allowed all six runs and 11 hits in 7 1-3 innings. He gave up three homers for the first time since April 25 against Kansas City.

"They're swinging the bats well," Halladay said. "If you make a mistake, you don't get away with very many. You have to be pretty good to beat them."

Mike Timlin (6-4) pitched one scoreless inning, and Byung-Hyun Kim got four outs for his 11th save in 14 chances. Burkett gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings.

Carlos Delgado had a two-run homer in the first for Toronto, which has lost four of five. Delgado's 34th homer and Eric Hinske's RBI double in the fourth put Toronto ahead 3-0.

"Giving him three runs is big because it's like giving others 20," Varitek said.

Bad baserunning cost Boston in the sixth. David Ortiz singled off the left-field wall after Manny Ramirez had singled, but was tagged out in a rundown between first and second for the first out of the inning.

Game notes
The Red Sox had 11 hits, their eighth straight game with 10 or more, one short of their season-high streak. ... Burkett had allowed 18 runs in 11 innings in his previous three starts against Toronto. ... Frank Catalanotto had three hits for Toronto. ... The Red Sox hosted the Saugus Little League team that lost the U.S. championship game last week. Boston manager Grady Little gave the 12 players authentic Red Sox jerseys with their names and numbers on the back. In addition, they all threw out ceremonial first pitches and stood at a position with a Red Sox player during the national anthems. ... The Red Sox won the season series 10-9. ... Derek Lowe, Boston's scheduled starter Friday, was warming up in the eighth. "Just in case things got crazy and the game went 18 innings," Little said.