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TORONTO -- History repeated itself Sunday afternoon. Once again it worked in favor of the Boston Red Sox. David Ortiz hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to give the Red Sox a 10-8 lead and they went on to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 11-8 in the rubber match of a three-game series between the top two teams in the American League East.
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Ortiz hit the homer against reliever Joaquin Benoit.
It was Benoit, then with the Detroit Tigers, who yielded a tying grand slam in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.
The Red Sox won that game and eventually the ALCS and World Series.
Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations for the Red Sox, was running the Tigers then and admitted that he was thinking of that moment nearly three years ago. He was glad that Ortiz now is on his side.
Ortiz hit a changeup, as he did for his grand slam in 2013.
"A little bit (surprised)," Ortiz said. "I thought I was getting a different menu, but he just threw me a hittable (pitch). It wasn't that bad (of a pitch). It was right at the bottom of the strike zone, where the pitcher wants to make that pitch."
The win gave the Red Sox (80-62) a two-game lead over the Blue Jays (78-64) in the AL East.
Jackie Bradley Jr. also hit a three-run homer for the Red Sox and Hanley Ramirez added a solo shot.
Troy Tulowitzki hit a grand slam and Edwin Encarnacion added two homers for the Blue Jays.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons took solace from his team's offense, which has struggled recently.
"Hopefully, that's the start of something," Gibbons said. "It was great to see us come back after we fell behind. We've been searching for those outbursts with the bats. Maybe it's the start of something, we'll see. It needs to be the start of something, that's for sure."
Each starting pitcher gave up six runs. Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez, who was dealing with a blister on the middle finger of his right hand, allowed five hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings and Boston right-hander Clay Buchholz gave up four hits and four walks in three innings.
"I don't want to make excuses," Sanchez said. "I've got to find a way to get deep in the game. Today was ugly. I'm not going to let (the blister) be an excuse for how I did today. I'm not going to say it helped me out there."
He said he has dealt with the blister since leaving spring training.
"We've had these come and go throughout the year," he said. "I felt like I had a good grip on it, but today was just one of those days, it kind of just inflamed. I think I felt it from about the fifth pitch of the game. Anything else I tried to throw, but the heater didn't feel right."
Robbie Ross Jr. (3-2) pitched two-thirds of an inning to get the win. Bo Schultz (0-1) took the loss, allowing two hits and two runs.
Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his 25th save of the season, overcoming a leadoff walk to Encarnacion.
Russell Martin followed with a drive down the right-field line that was ruled foul after a review, which led to the ejection of Gibbons. The Blue Jays had nothing more to offer.
"We never rolled over," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "We kept grinding, kept finding a way to come back. This was about one guy picking up another. Every out by guys coming out of the bullpen was key. (Ortiz) is such an integral part of this team, has been for a number of years. We're somewhat in awe of what David is doing in his final run."
Ortiz has said he will retire at the end of the season.
Ortiz walked and scored on Mookie Betts' double in the first. Encarnacion homered in the bottom of the first to tie it 1-1.
Bradley hit a three-run homer in the second to give Boston a 4-1 lead. It scored Brock Holt and Sandy Leon, who had walked.
Toronto led 6-4 after a five-run third capped by Tulowitzki's 23rd homer of the season and his third career grand slam.
Josh Donaldson walked, Encarnacion singled and Jose Bautista walked to load the bases. Martin walked to force in a run and Tulowitzki hit a first-pitch homer.
The Red Sox tied the score 6-6 in the fourth on three straight two-out hits -- a single by Bradley, a double by Dustin Pedroia and a two-run single by Xander Bogaerts.
The Blue Jays regained the lead at 8-6 in their fourth against Heath Hembree when Encarnacion's 39th homer of the season followed Donaldson's walk.
Ramirez hit his 23rd homer of the season in the fifth against Joe Biagini.
After Schultz allowed singles to Pedroia and Bogaerts in the sixth, Benoit gave up Ortiz's 32nd homer of the season.
The Red Sox scored once the seventh when Danny Barnes walked Holt before allowing Leon's double.
NOTES: Blue Jays 2B Devon Travis was DH Sunday. He singled in eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games but has struggled defensively, committing errors in three straight games before going errorless Saturday. INF Ryan Goins played second base Sunday. ... Red Sox INF Travis Shaw started at third base for the 90th game this season after INF Aaron Hill got the start there Saturday with Shaw limited to a pinch-hit appearance. ... Toronto LHP Francisco Liriano (7-12, 5.27 ERA) will start Monday against Tampa Bay Rays RHP Jake Odorizzi (9-6, 3.86 ERA) at Rogers Centre with RHP R.A. Dickey being bypassed in the rotation. ... Boston LHP David Price (15-8, 3.87 ERA) will start Monday at Fenway Park against Baltimore Orioles LHP Wade Miley (8-12, 5.49 ERA).
