SPORTSTICKER AL RECAP (TORONTO-BOSTON) BOSTON (Ticker) -- The expected pitching duel between Pedro Martinez and Pat Hentgen never materialized. Martinez survived a sub-par outing and a shaky performance by the bullpen to become the majors' first nine-game winner as the Boston Red Sox completed their first three-game home sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays in 20 years with a 10-8 victory. After Toronto scored three runs in the top of the ninth, Tom Gordon preserved the win by getting Homer Bush to fly to right field for the final out. "As a team, it's much more important to get the win than individual numbers," Martinez said. "I'm here to give the team a chance and today I did." Gordon converted his 50th consecutive save opportunity and sixth of the year as the Red Sox completed their first three-game sweep of the Blue Jays at Fenway Park since June 22-24, 1979. Boston recorded a three-game sweep at Skydome on June 25-27, 1997. Martinez (9-1) was not overpowering, allowing three runs -- two earned -- and eight hits over six innings with one walk and a season-low six strikeouts. The righthander matched his shortest outing of the season and failed to reach double figures in strikeouts for the first time in eight starts. Martinez did not strike out a batter in the third, ending his string of 33 innings with at least one strikeout. "I wasn't struggling, they just made some adjustments at the plate," Martinez said. "I mean, they deserve credit for making adjustments because I actually felt good out there. They really didn't hit the ball hard, but they put it in play." "Pedro gave us some good innings out there, he competed," added Boston manager Jimy Williams, who was ejected in the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Marty Foster. "Sometimes you use seven pitchers, sometimes you use one. Today we used seven and we got a `W.'" Martinez left with a 7-3 lead as the Red Sox snapped a tie with four runs in the bottom of the fifth on Damon Buford's three-run homer and Jason Varitek's solo shot off Hentgen (4-2). "Pedro really didn't look like he had his best stuff," Buford said. "He went six for us and that's all you can really ask. Just another quality start. He's been picking up the defense every time he pitches. Today was just a total team effort, offense and defense." The Red Sox took six of seven from the Blue Jays over the last two weekends. They have won 14 of their last 17 overall and 11 of 13 at home. "You can't expect this kid (Martinez) to throw shutouts and strike out 15 every single game," Williams said. "We got him under 100 pitches today and with an extra day off, that should help him." After the Blue Jays closed within 7-5 in the seventh, Boston grabbed a 10-5 lead in the eighth on Nomar Garciaparra's two-run triple and Troy O'Leary's RBI single. Toronto made it close in the ninth as Rheal Cormier gave up a run-scoring groundout to Carlos Delgado and an RBI double to Tony Fernandez before John Wasdin yielded a run-scoring double to Patrick Lennon. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Hentgen, who allowed seven runs -- three earned -- and eight hits over five innings. "I struggled all day with my location, struggled pretty much through five innings," Hentgen said. "I just had a bad day. Bottom line, I didn't pitch well, didn't get ahead, didn't do the things I'm normally capable of. Facing a first-place team like Boston, you've got to make your pitches and I didn't do that today." The Blue Jays have dropped four straight and are just 9-21 in their last 30 contests after a 12-4 start. Boston grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second on Buford's sacrifice fly and rookie Trot Nixon's RBI double. The Blue Jays pulled even on Mike Matheny's RBI single in the third and Lennon's run-scoring single in the fourth. Jose Offerman's RBI single gave Boston a 3-2 lead in the fourth before the Blue Jays tied it again in the top of the fifth on Craig Grebeck's RBI single. But the Red Sox took advantage of third baseman Fernandez's two-out fielding error on O'Leary's grounder to push across four unearned runs in the bottom of the inning. "We had a chance to beat (Martinez) today and just didn't get it done," Toronto manager Jim Fregosi said. "We made some defensive plays again that cost us. You can blame the pitching all you want, but if you make defensive plays, that's what happens." Mike Stanley singled before Buford and Varitek reached Hentgen for back-to-back homers, giving the Red Sox a 7-3 lead.  