Today in Jays History: Vernon Wells hits 3 home runs

15 Years Ago Today (well, yesterday)

The Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 8-5.

Vernon Wells hit 3 home runs. He was 3 for 4, with a walk and 4 RBI.

Troy Glaus had 2 solo home runs.

The Jays beat Josh Beckett, who, coming into the game, had a 7-1 record and a 3.80 ERA. He left the game with a 4.46 ERA, giving up 10 hits, 7 earned, 1 walk, 4 home runs, with 7 strikeouts.

We scored:

• Three in the first: Alex Rios singled, and Wells and Glaus followed with back-to-back home runs, making it 3-1 Jays.
• One in the third: Well homered again in his second at-bat, making it 4-1.
• One in the fourth: Bengie Molina led off with a double. Aaron Hill followed with a single. Edgardo Alfonza scored Molina with a ground out. Alfonzo signed with us as a free agent after being released by the Dodgers in May. He had been a pretty good infielder with the Mets, but at 32, he wasn’t anymore. Alfonzo played in 12 games with the Jays, hit .162/.289/.189 in 43 at-bats, and got his release in June. He didn’t play in the majors again. 5-2 Jays.
• Two in the fifth: Troy Glaus led off with his second home run of the game. An out later, Shea Hillenbrand singled, and Molina was hit by pitch. Hill singled to score Shea, and that was it for Beckett. 7-2 Jays.
• One in the eighth: Well gets his third home run of the game. 8-5 Jays.

Gustavo Chacin got the start. He went 5 innings, gave up 4 hits, 2 earned, 4 walks with 1 strikeout. Chacin got the win, moving to 6-1 on the season with a 5.11 ERA. We were scoring for him. Chacin finished the season 9-4 with a 5.05 ERA in 17 games. He made five starts for us in 2007, and then they sent him to the minors. He didn’t pitch for us again.

Gibby ran out six relievers over the last 4 innings, including sending B.J. Ryan out there for a four-out save, his 12th of the season.

The win gave the Jays a 28-22 record, 1.5 games behind the tied for first place Red Sox and Yankees. We would finish the season 87 and 75, good for second place, 10 games back of the Yankees.

The three home runs raised Wells’ batting line to .325/.379/.615 with 15 home runs. He would finish the season with a .303/.357/.542 line with 32 home runs.