TORONTO -- When the Red Sox needed a big swing on Thursday night at Rogers Centre, J.D. Martinez provided it.
The slugger lined a three-run shot to right-center with two outs in the fifth, turning a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead.
It was Martinez's fifth homer of the season, and the type of big hit the Red Sox envisioned when they signed him to a five-year, $110 million contract during Spring Training.
Martinez smacked a first-pitch, 88.9-mph fastball from Jays right-hander Marco Estrada for the home run that gave ace Chris Sale his first lead of the night in the finale of a nine-game road trip.