Jose Bautista belted his league-best 24th home run of the season, one of three Toronto homers in a wild win over host Boston.

The victory was tempered by an injury to Toronto starter Henderson Alvarez (4-6), who was forced out of the game in the sixth inning with right elbow soreness.

The team announced that the right-hander was removed as a precaution after appearing to tweak something on a pitch to Adrian Gonzalez. Toronto jumped in front for good in the sixth inning.

After Ben Francisco reached on a two-out double, J.P. Arencibia launched a change-up from Felix Doubront (8-4) off a sign hanging over the top of the Green Monster in left field for his first home run since May 27.

Bautista struck an inning later, belting a line-drive shot that just cleared the Monster for his 12th home run in June, the most in the majors in that span and tying a career high for one month. When play resumed following a 1-hour, 56-minute rain delay, David Ortiz trimmed the deficit to 9-6 with his second home run of the night.

That was as close as the Red Sox would get, as they fell short in their first game since trading long-time third baseman Kevin Youkilis to the Chicago White Sox. Henderson surrendered five runs - three earned