BOSTON — Before David Ortiz finally ended the longest homerless streak of his career, he got some words of encouragement from his dad.

Sort of.

Enrique Ortiz had flown into town Tuesday and "told me, 'Hey, son, it's not going to get worse than this so go out there, have fun and forget about what happened,' " Ortiz recalled.

It may be tough to hear your father say you've hit bottom, but Ortiz said he kept that in mind last night when he hit his first homer in 150 at-bats in the Boston Red Sox's 8-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

"I tried it all. I was about to hit right-handed," the lefty slugger said. "I feel like I just got that big old monkey off my back and (in) this game, sometimes that's all it takes to have a good at-bat, get a good hit and everything will start clicking."

Ortiz's homer was one of four off left-hander Brett Cecil (2-1) in a six-run fifth inning and one of five they hit in the game.

Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury caught 12 fly balls that Toronto kept in the park against Brad Penny (4-1), tying the major league record for most putouts in a nine-inning game by an outfielder.

"My legs felt a little tired," Ellsbury said. "I was just happy we were getting quick outs."

Jason Varitek hit two homers. He led off the fifth with his second of the game and seventh of the season before Ortiz, Jason Bay and Mike Lowell connected as Cecil had trouble locating his fastball.

"I wouldn't say (that's) shocking," Cecil said. "That's going to happen with pitches like that."

Ortiz's shot just to the left of straightaway center drew the loudest roar from fans who've been waiting since Sept. 22 to see him connect again. The home run by the slugger who hit 112 the past three years drew a standing ovation. As he crossed the plate, he pointed to the sky twice, clapped his hands and was hugged by Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis.

His teammates gave him the silent treatment before hugging him and pounding on his back in the dugout.

"We're all blowing on (the ball), wanting it to go out," manager Terry Francona said. "You could see the sheer joy in the dugout."

Ortiz doubled to left-center in the eighth but was stranded. He struck out twice and grounded to first base in his other three at-bats.

"I wasn't really worried about homers as much as I was worried about getting my swing back," Ortiz said. "I know when my swing's there, the homers (are) going to come."

The second-place Red Sox cut the Blue Jays' lead in the AL East to 1 1/2 games with their second win in two days over Toronto.

YANKEES 11, ORIOLES 4:

Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera hit solo homers in the second inning against starter Jeremy Guthrie (3-4) — all with two strikes — powering host New York past Baltimore for its eighth straight victory.

TIGERS 5, RANGERS 3:

Justin Verlander (4-2) allowed a run and three hits in six innings, Ryan Raburn, Wilkin Ramirez, and Brandon Inge hit homers as host Detroit, despite hitting into a triple play, held off Texas to win its fifth straight.

ATHLETICS 7, RAYS 6:

Brett Anderson (1-4) gave up four runs and four hits over six-plus innings, and Orlando Cabrera drove in two runs and Baldwin High grad Kurt Suzuki had an RBI single as visiting Oakland beat Tampa Bay.

WHITE SOX 7, TWINS 4:

Jermaine Dye's eighth career grand slam capped a seven-run bottom of the fourth inning, and John Danks (1-4) gave up four runs and four hits over six-plus innings to lead Chicago over Minnesota.

INDIANS 6, ROYALS 5:

Mark DeRosa had three hits and drove in the tiebreaking run in the top of the eighth, and Kerry Wood struck out Mark Teahen and David DeJesus with the bases loaded for his sixth save as Cleveland beat Kansas City.

MARINERS 1, ANGELS 0:

Chris Jakubauskas (3-4) allowed two hits in six innings, three relievers completed the three-hitter and Ken Griffey Jr. singled home Ichiro Suzuki, who led off the first with a double, as Seattle beat Los Angeles.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

MARLINS-DIAMONDBACKS SPLIT:

Justin Upton hit his second three-run homer of the game in the top of the 13th inning to help Arizona beat Florida, 13-9, for a split of a doubleheader.

In the opener, Dan Uggla homered and drove in four runs in Florida's 8-6 win.

REDS 5, PHILLIES 1:

Aaron Harang (4-4) limited the NL's highest-scoring lineup to a solo homer by Raul Ibanez in six innings and Brandon Phillips drove in three runs to help host Cincinnati end Philadelphia's winning streak at five games and its own losing streak at four.

BRAVES 12, ROCKIES 4:

Yunel Escobar hit a three-run homer in a nine-run bottom of the fourth inning and Javier Vazquez (4-3) gave up a run on three hits in five innings as Atlanta routed Colorado for the second straight night.

CARDINALS 2, CUBS 1:

Chris Carpenter (2-0) gave up three hits while throwing 67 pitches over five scoreless innings in his first outing since he strained a left rib-cage muscle April 14, and Chris Duncan snapped a 1-for-21 slump with two hits and an RBI to lead host St. Louis.

ASTROS 6, BREWERS 1:

Wandy Rodriguez (5-2) allowed a run on six hits in seven strong innings, Miguel Tejada and Hunter Pence both had two RBIs, and Rodriguez also drove in a run as host Houston ended Milwaukee's six-game winning streak.

PIRATES 2, NATIONALS 1:

Washington's Joel Hanrahan threw a two-out, 1-2 pitch to Adam LaRoche that bounced before it got to home plate for a wild pitch, allowing Freddy Sanchez to score from third in the top of the ninth inning and Pittsburgh held on for its fifth straight victory.

PADRES 2, GIANTS 1:

Chad Gaudin (1-3) allowed one run and five hits in six innings and Kevin Kouzmanoff led off the bottom of the fourth with a homer to break a 1-all tie as San Diego beat San Francisco for its fifth straight victory.

DODGERS 2, METS 1:

Russell Martin drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning as Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of New York to improve its major league-best record to 29-13 and extend its division lead over San Francisco to 8 1/2 games.