BOSTON -- Hanley Ramirez hit the home run that finally ended a very long baseball game early Wednesday morning, but he preferred to talk about his team.

"We never give up," Ramirez said after his one-out solo homer in the 15th inning gave the Boston Red Sox a 5-4 decision over the Toronto Blue Jays. "We keep pushing, and Mookie (Betts) in that (11th) inning, that's the type of team that we are."

Betts drilled a two-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the 11th to keep the game going after Ryan Goins' sacrifice fly had given the Jays the lead. The pitching of Hector Velazquez and Ramirez's 15th homer of the season took care of the rest in Boston's second marathon in four days.

"It's a good win," Ramirez said. "This time of the year you gotta keep winning and winning, especially when you play (teams) in the same division. I gotta give credit to Velazquez and our bullpen. Everybody, Everybody."

Velazquez (2-1), recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier Tuesday, pitched four scoreless innings, allowing two hits. Being a starter, he was in for a long haul, and he came through to keep the game going.

"This was a gritty win and a very important win," Red Sox manager John Farrell said.

It really was important. The Tampa Bay Rays rallied to win in Oakland and could have moved to within a game of the first-place Red Sox in the American League East. The New York Yankees, who made a trade to bolster their roster Tuesday, could have been 2 1/2 games out after their victory at Minnesota.

The Red Sox (53-42) have played 58 innings in five games starting with a 16-inning loss to the Yankees on Saturday. They would have fallen to 1-4 in those games with a loss.

"Playing all these long games, it's going to be tough to stay excited and stay energized, but we find a way," said Betts. "Every good team is going to go through some stretches where things are getting rough, and we're at that stretch right now. Luckily we're still winning games.

"It was fun. It's fun to be part of games like that. Extra innings isn't the fun part, but the way the game played out where both teams could have scored and both teams had their chances, that made the game fun."

Ramirez, getting his third start of the season at first base, hit the first pitch from Mike Bolsinger (0-3) completely out of Fenway Park for his third career walk-off home run.

Bolsinger struck out six -- four in one inning -- in 3 1/3 innings of one-run relief.

"They played their hearts out, man," said Toronto manager John Gibbons, whose team fell to 43-50 and into sole possession of last place in the AL East. "They played their butts off. It was one of those games, it was back and forth, they hung around.

"We had a couple of opportunities, we couldn't capitalize, especially early in the game."

Betts' tying hit snapped Roberto Osuna's save streak at 22 straight, three shy of matching Tom Henke's team record. Osuna had struck out two in a row after the Red Sox placed runners on first and second, but Betts came through.

For the second straight night, Dustin Pedroia tied the game 3-3 with a two-out double in the seventh inning. Then, with first and third and nobody out in the eighth, Toronto's Kevin Pillar hit a hard grounder to a drawn-in Pedroia, and the second baseman tagged Steve Pearce and flipped to first for a double play.

"Pedroia burned us the second night in a row," Gibbons said. "That was a little bit of deja vu. But we came back."

Said Ramirez, with a laugh: "Why we gotta talk about Pedey? Everybody knows Pedey. Pedey can do it all -- that's why he is who he is. It's unbelievable. But the biggest thing is heart. He's a great, great teammate, a great person, a great guy."

Chris Young and Pedroia hit solo homers (the fifth home run of the year for both) off Toronto starter J.A. Happ for the first two Boston runs.

Troy Tulowitzki's second single drove in a run in a three-run fifth inning -- while Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs in the inning against Boston starter Brian Johnson.

Tulowitzki had four hits but was guilty of not taking second on a ball off the wall leading off the 13th. He was then caught stealing as part of a double play.

The win raised the Red Sox's extra-inning record to 8-2 while the Jays fell to 3-8 in extras.

NOTES: SS Xander Bogaerts was scratched from the Boston lineup to have an MRI on his right hand, which revealed a contusion and slight sprain. He appeared briefly in the game as a pinch runner in the 11th inning. He is 4-for-26 (.154) since getting hit July 6 and is day-to-day. ... The Red Sox, who recalled LHP Brian Johnson for the start, sent 1B Sam Travis and LHP Robby Scott to Pawtucket. ... Toronto RHP Aaron Sanchez, who has won four straight against the Red Sox dating back to 2015, goes for just his second win of the season when he faces LHP Drew Pomeranz (6-1 in his last seven decisions) Wednesday night. ... Boston DH Chris Young drew his 500th career walk in the second inning.