Jon Lester pitched six innings to win his third consecutive start as the Boston Red Sox hit four homers in a 14-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays Friday. Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Beltre, Mike Cameron and Bill Hall connected for Boston, which snapped a four-game skid and improved to 6-1 against the Blue Jays this season. Hall finished with three hits and four RBIs. Lester (11-3) allowed two runs and four hits, struck out six and walked two. He is 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in his last three starts and has won 11 of 12 decisions overall. John McDonald and Jose Molina went deep for the Blue Jays, who lead the major leagues with 132 homers. Boston is second with 116. White Sox 8, Royals 2: At Chicago, Mark Buehrle pitched a shutout into the eighth inning and A.J. Pierzynski hit two home runs as Chicago beat Kansas City for its sixth straight win. Buehrle took a line drive off his right (non-throwing) wrist on Scott Podsednik's leadoff single in the first, but was not seriously injured. The left-hander allowed six hits in seven-plus innings and was replaced by Sergio Santos after walking David DeJesus to start the eighth. Buehrle (8-7) is 5-1 in his last six starts as Chicago's pitching continues to be a major reason for the team's recent tear - 23 wins in 28 games. Indians 9, Rays 3: At St. Petersburg, Florida, Jayson Nix homered for the sixth time in his last seven games and Jhonny Peralta hit a three-run homer as Cleveland downed Tampa Bay. Cleveland went ahead 3-1 on Nix's solo shot off James Shields (7-9) in the fifth. Peralta's three-run drive off Andy Sonnanstine and an RBI double by Jason Donald made it 8-2 in the eighth. The Indians ended Tampa Bay's six-game winning streak. All-Star Fausto Carmona (8-7) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings for the Indians, who lost their last six at Tampa Bay. The Rays are 7-2 in July after going 11-14 during June. Elsewhere it was: Tigers 7, Twins 3; Yankees 6, Mariners 1; Angels 6, Athletics 5, 10 innings; Orioles7, Rangers 6, 10 innings. Cabrera, Infante lift Braves Melky Cabrera and Omar Infante hit back-to-back homers with two outs in the seventh inning off knuckleballer R.A. Dickey as the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 4-2 Friday. Infante, the All-Star utility player, had four hits and scored twice to help the Braves open a four-game lead over New York, their biggest margin of the season. Billy Wagner made his first appearance at Citi Field against his former team and received mostly boos when he was announced. He pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save. In other games it was: Phillies 9, Reds 7, 10 innings; Cardinals 8, Astros 0; Nationals 8, Giants 1; Brewers 5, Pirates 4, 10 innings; Rockies 10, Padres 8; Marlins 3, Diamondbacks 2; Dodgers 9, Cubs 7.
