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Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson breaks his bat in frustration after hitting a pop fly out to right field against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

They were introduced one by one in a lavish pregame tribute, the likes of Carlos Delgado, Vernon Wells and Jesse Barfield, some of the biggest offensive stars in Blue Jays history.

But all the pomp and circumstance seemed to do was dull the bats of the current lineup as the Boston Red Sox (30-20) came back to top Toronto (26-26) 5-3 in extra innings at Rogers Centre on Sunday.

Despite the setback, it was still a successful weekend for the Blue Jays, who took two of three from the American League East-leading Red Sox and had won a season-high four in a row before the finale against David Price and company. The Blue Jays, winners of seven of their past 10 games to take their past three series, welcome the New York Yankees to town on Monday for another key divisional matchup.

"You keep winning series throughout the year and you're going to end up where you want to be," said R.A. Dickey, who had a good, but not great, start against the Red Sox. "I don't think anybody here is discouraged."

Dickey cited Toronto's invigorating 10-9 win over Boston on Saturday, when the Jays scored six runs in the last two innings, as evidence that the team is poised to break out.

"We're on the right path and we still haven't hit our stride, I don't think, in the least," Dickey said. "I think you're going to see a lot more out of this team than what you've been seeing."

Edwin Encarnacion stroked his 10th home run in the eighth inning off Boston reliever Heath Hembree to tie the score 3-3.

The Red Sox then took advantage of a tiring Toronto bullpen to steal the victory.

Blake Swihart was walked by Toronto reliever Gavin Floyd with one out in the 11th inning and went to third base when Floyd threw a wild ball-four pitch to Mookie Betts.

Swihart strolled home when Dustin Pedroia had his second run batted in of the game, a ground-rule double that one-hopped the wall in right-centre.

With Betts at third and the Toronto infield drawn in to try to prevent any more damage, Xander Bogaerts hit a grounder that Jays shortstop Darwin Barney could not handle cleanly.

As a result, Barney was forced to take the second out at first base, allowing Betts to score to give Boston its two-run advantage and pin the loss on Floyd.

"I just think he was worn down," Toronto manager John Gibbons said of Floyd. "He's been carrying it, he's been pitching a lot. He's logged a lot of innings over his career. He's had some arm issues, so we're trying to be careful with him.

"But it's kind of the way the games have all gone the last week, tight games. He's been he's so good for us, I just think he's a little bit out of gas right now."

Gibbons said he expects the Blue Jays will call up a pitcher from Triple-A Buffalo before Monday's game against New York to help fortify an arm-weary bullpen.

The Blue Jays are celebrating their 40th anniversary this season and have dedicated three games commemorating different moments in the club's history.

On Sunday, the theme was great offensive players. The first 20,000 fans received a Delgado, Wells and Jose Bautista bobblehead trinket.

Delgado and Wells were on hand for a pregame presentation, as were eight other noted sluggers from seasons past: Tony Fernandez, Lloyd Moseby, Ernie Whitt, John Mayberry, Roberto Alomar, Shawn Green, Jose Cruz Jr. and Barfield.

Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who is among the AL leaders in home runs with 13, was a late scratch on Sunday with a sore left foot.

Dickey held the Red Sox hitless until the sixth inning, when Boston got to him for three straight singles and a 3-2 lead.

Price, who played a key role in helping the Blue Jays into the postseason last year before he signed a seven-year, $217-million (U.S.) free-agent deal with the Red Sox, was making his first start in Toronto against his old team.

And the Blue Jays had just two hits off their old teammate heading into the fifth inning, when Bautista jumped on Price's first pitch and drove the ball off the foul pole in left field for his 11th home run. The two-run shot gave Toronto a 2-0 lead.

The win was credited to Clay Buchholz, who made his first relief appearance of the year in the 10th inning after losing his role in Boston's starting rotation.

Buchholz allowed one hit in an otherwise clean inning, his first relief appearance since Aug. 17, 2008 – also against the Blue Jays.

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