Toronto ? With three scoreless innings of relief, Rolando Arrojo proved he deserves to start.

Arrojo, told before the game that he’ll replace Darren Oliver in the starting rotation this weekend, came out of the bullpen and kept the Toronto Blue Jays in check to lead the Boston Red Sox to an 8-6 victory Monday night.

Arrojo is scheduled to start against the New York Yankees on Saturday.

“Today was like preparation for the game on Saturday,” Arrojo said through a translator. “I felt fine. I felt very strong. Hopefully, I’ll do a good job on Saturday.”

Boston manager Grady Little took Oliver out of the rotation because he hasn’t won since May 7 and he gave up three home runs in four-plus innings of a 14-5 loss to the Yankees on Sunday night.

Nomar Garciaparra homered and drove in three runs, and Jason Varitek also had three RBIs for the Red Sox, who have the best record in the majors at 33-15.

Raul Mondesi drove in a season-high four runs for the Blue Jays, including a two-run homer in the ninth off Rich Garces that cut it to 8-6. Ugueth Urbina came on to get two straight outs for his 16th save in 17 chances.

Frank Castillo (3-5) finally got some run support after the Red Sox scored a total of four runs in his previous four starts. Castillo allowed four runs on five hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked three.

“When you get some runs it allows you to relax a little bit,” Castillo said. “They definitely picked me up today.”

Toronto has dropped four straight and six of seven.

Garciaparra went 3-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored. His seventh homer of the season, a two-run shot off newly acquired Cliff Politte in the ninth, gave Boston an 8-4 lead.

Boston scored three unearned runs in the first after first baseman Carlos Delgado’s fielding error with two outs allowed Brian Daubach to reach. Daubach’s grounder ticked of the glove of Delgado, who tried to back-hand it.

Shea Hillenbrand followed with a two-run double off Roy Halladay (5-2), and Varitek added an RBI single.

Tigers 4, Indians 1

Cleveland Mark Redman pitched a career-best four-hitter and beat Cleveland for the second time in a week. Redman (2-5) mixed a few slow breaking pitches in with his fastball and improved to 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA in five career starts against Cleveland. Damian Jackson hit a two-run homer off Danys Baez (4-4) as the Tigers snapped Cleveland’s three-game winning streak and won their fourth straight over the Indians, who have scored only 16 runs in their last seven games.

Yankees 10, White Sox 6

Chicago Bernie Williams homered, doubled and drove in four runs as New York had another big night with the bats. Nick Johnson hit a three-run homer, and Rondell White had three hits and two RBIs as the Yankees scored in double digits for the second straight game. They hit six home runs in a 14-5 victory at Boston on Sunday night. Mike Thurman (1-0), pitching in place of injured Orlando Hernandez, made his first AL start a success, allowing two runs in seven innings. Dan Wright (5-5) fell behind 6-0 in the first inning. Frank Thomas hit a two-run homer for Chicago. New York second baseman Alfonso Soriano was scratched from the lineup because of a stiff left hip flexor.

Twins 5, Rangers 2

Arlington, Texas Torii Hunter hit his 14th home run off Kenny Rogers (5-3) to tie for the AL lead and drove in three runs for Minnesota. Twins starter Kyle Lohse (4-3) allowed one run and seven hits in 513 innings, striking out six. Eddie Guardado pitched the ninth for his 16th save. Carl Everett went 3-for-4 and Rafael Palmeiro homered for the Rangers, who lost their fourth straight. Palmeiro hit his 11th homer leading off the sixth, giving him 1,500 career RBIs. He became the 39th player in major league history to reach the milestone.