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BOSTON – Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marco Estrada is a happily married man, but he’s also a flirt. He keeps flirting with no-hitters.

The Sylmar, Calif., native hasn’t picked one up yet but he’s come close three times the last two years, including Sunday afternoon at venerable Fenway Park.

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The Toronto right-hander carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday but his bid for baseball immortality was broken up by left-fielder Chris Young who, with one out, smacked a first-pitch offering — a fastball inside — over the Green Monster in left centre field.

Despite that, and despite giving up another hit in the ninth and then being pulled for closer Roberto Osuna, Estrada was magnificent on a cool, dreary afternoon, guiding the Jays to a 5-4 victory over Boston, owners of the American League’s most explosive offence. The Jays barely hung on for the win.

“I started off pretty slow,” said Estrada, who walked the first two batters of the game. “It took me a little bit of time to get used to the mound or something, I don’t know what it was. By the third inning I felt pretty comfortable, just had things going. But it’s a very good lineup over there. They hit a lot of hard-hit balls. We made some great plays. (Travis) Shaw hit one to centre, (Kevin) Pillar tracked him down. And then Henley (Ramirez) hit one to right that (Jose) Bautista tracked down.”