BOSTON -- It’s only a small sample size this season, but maybe it would be a good idea to keep pairing pitcher Josh Beckett with catcher Jason Varitek.

On Saturday, that battery clicked again, helping the Red Sox snap a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

Beckett limited the Jays to one run on three hits in seven innings. He whiffed nine, five of them called, as Beckett and Varitek surprised Jays hitters with strikeout pitches. And he used all his pitches in recording the punchouts -- five on fastballs, three on curveballs and one on a cutter.

It was the second dominant outing for the battery. In his previous start, also paired with Varitek, Beckett blanked the Yankees on two hits over eight innings in a 4-0 win. He fanned 10 in that start.

Not that his first start this season, with Jarrod Saltalamacchia behind the plate, was horrible, but he lasted only five innings and was charged with three runs in the 3-1 loss in Cleveland.

It’s not all that unusual for pitchers to pair with certain catchers because of a comfort level. Tim Wakefield generally had a personal catcher as a starter for Boston, though his signature pitch, the knuckleball, was mostly the reason.

But with the tandem of veterans Beckett and Varitek going well, it wouldn’t be a surprise if manager Terry Francona were to keep them together for the near future.

HOW CAN YOU KEEP HIM ON THE BENCH? While manager Terry Francona has been loyal to Marco Scutaro as the starting shortstop, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep Jed Lowrie from taking over position. Lowrie started Saturday and, hitting leadoff in place of slumping Carl Crawford, went 3-for-5, including a two-run home run, his first homer of the year. He boosted his average from .471 to .500 (11-for-22).

While Lowrie is versatile and can play all four infield spots, he isn’t going to supplant Kevin Youkilis (third base), Dustin Pedroia (second) or Adrian Gonzalez (first) in the starting lineup. But Scutaro, who is batting .188, could be seeing his playing time decrease in the near future.

STEALING IS (MOSTLY) EASY: The Jays continued to exploit the Red Sox pitching staff and catching corps, stealing virtually at will no matter who is on base.

The Jays swiped four bases Friday night, including Adam Lind’s second one in three years. Saturday, the aggressive Jays, under ex-Sox pitching coach John Farrell, stole three more. Travis Snider stole second and third in the second inning and Aaron Hill snagged second in the fourth, though John McDonald was gunned down in the eighth with Toronto down by three runs.

The four stolen bases Friday came against Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Saturday’s thefts came at the expense of Jason Varitek. Overall Sox catchers have thrown out only 3 of 19 base stealers.

Worst of all, the throwing deficiencies may be leading to the pitchers becoming preoccupied with the Toronto baserunners. With Hill on second base in the second inning Saturday, Josh Beckett kept looking back as Hill faked a dash to third. He held the ball so long that Snider asked for time and stepped out of the box. Before the next pitch, Beckett again held the ball a long time, with shortstop Jed Lowrie moving behind Hill, slapping his glove, letting Hill know he was there.

Maybe it was just coincidence, maybe it had nothing to do with any lapse of concentration on the pitcher’s part, but Beckett’s next pitch was lined to right for an RBI single by Snider.

Varitek finally snapped the Jays' streak by throwing out McDonald.

COMPLETE PLAYER: As the season goes along, there is little doubt that Adrian Gonzalez, who signed a seven-year, $154-million contract extension on Friday, will deliver offensively.

But he also is going to be a joy to watch on defense, as he showed Friday.

The first baseman, whose acquisition forced the Sox to move Gold Glover Kevin Youkilis to third, twice robbed Toronto’s Corey Patterson of hits. In the first inning, Gonzalez went to his left and corralled Patterson’s hard grounder over the bag. He knocked it down and threw to Beckett covering first for the out. In the third, Gonzalez ranged to his right and made a diving stop of another hard-hit ball by Patterson. From the seat of his pants, Gonzalez made a perfect feed to Beckett for the out.

Patterson tested him on more time and Gonzalez again frustrated him, this time with a backhand pick of a hard, high hopper in the eighth.

ACCORDING TO PLAN: One of the Sox's blueprints for victory heading into the season was for the starters to go long enough and the hitters to do enough damage to turn a lead over to Daniel Bard in the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth.

Saturday, the Sox followed the script. Bard, handed a 4-1 lead, worked a scoreless eighth and Papelbon finished off the Jays for his second save. This was the second time in the Sox's three wins that the Bard-Papelbon duo has finished off a victory with a save on the line.