Crafty Lester hurls Red Sox over Mariners

Associated Press

BOSTON — Seattle’s Dustin Ackley had never faced Jon Lester before Monday night and afterward said that the Boston Red Sox left-hander’s cutter looked identical to his fastball.

Ackley wasn’t the only Mariner who couldn’t figure out Lester.

Lester scattered eight hits without walking a batter in his second complete game of the season to lead the Red Sox to their fourth straight win, 6-1 over Seattle.

“He’s got some great pitches. His curveball’s a great pitch, too,” said Ackley, who went 1 for 4 with a single. “He gets ahead with that on guys early, and when he’s able to use the cutter, it’s a great pitch for him. When you have a pitch like that, you’re going to miss barrels a lot.”

Swing and miss the Mariners did.

Seattle didn’t manage a hit off Lester (2-3) until Ichiro Suzuki singled with two outs in the fourth inning, and they mustered merely six hits — all singles — through eight innings. Lester struck out six, including Alex Liddi to cap his first nine-inning complete game since June 27, 2010. He also tossed an eight-inning complete game earlier this season in a loss at Toronto.

Lester required 119 pitches to finish off his eighth career complete game, surrendering the lone run in the ninth when Suzuki singled, moved to third on a double by Justin Smoak and scored on Kyle Seager’s groundout.

“I’ve seen him pretty good, unfortunately. But he was good tonight, too,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “He’s a smart kid. As he works his way through the lineup the second and third times, he does a nice job mixing-and-matching and he did a lot of that tonight.”

Daniel Nava and Kelly Shoppach homered for Boston.

David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez added consecutive RBI doubles for the Red Sox, who won their fourth straight at home. Boston is on its longest home winning streak since capturing nine straight last July.

The Red Sox opened just 4-11 at Fenway Park.

The Mariners, on the second stop of a four-city, 11-game trip, have dropped four of six. Seattle entered the day with the AL’s second-worst batting average at .235.

Suzuki and Smoak each had two hits for the Mariners.

Jason Vargas (4-3) had his worst start of the season, allowing five runs and seven hits in six innings. He had allowed two runs or fewer in six of his eight starts this year.

Lester retired the first 11 batters before Suzuki reached on an infield hit when the ball caromed off the pitcher’s glove. Third baseman Will Middlebrooks had little time to make a throw when he finally recovered the ball.

Leading 2-0, the Red Sox increased their lead to 5-0 on the homers by Nava and Shoppach. Nava hit his second career home run into the first row of seats above the Green Monster after Cody Ross singled leading off the fourth. One out later, Shoppach belted one over the Monster seats, completely out of Fenway, for his first of the season.

Nava’s only other homer was a grand slam on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues, making him just the second player in major league history to accomplish the feat. Kevin Kouzmanoff was the other, doing it with Cleveland in 2006.

Marlon’s Byrd’s sacrifice fly made it 6-0 in the eighth.

Boston had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first on doubles on consecutive pitches to Ortiz and Gonzalez.

Boston’s Dustin Pedroia went 0 for 4, snapping his 14-game hitting streak.

RAYS 7, BLUE JAYS 1

TORONTO — Cesar Ramos got his first career win after replacing the injured Jeff Niemann, and Ben Zobrist homered in Tampa Bay’s win over Toronto.

Luke Scott and Sean Rodriguez each had two RBIs for the Rays, who have won two straight after losing six of their previous seven.

The Rays had to go to their bullpen early, with Niemann knocked out after he was struck on the right foot by Adam Lind’s grounder in the first.

Ramos (1-0) allowed one run and two hits in three innings, walked three and struck out three, to win for the first time in 80 career appearances.

Tampa Bay broke it open with a six-run fifth, taking advantage of an error by Adam Lind to score five unearned runs off Blue Jays right-hander Brandon Morrow (4-2).

INDIANS 5, TWINS 4

MINNEAPOLIS — Shin-Soo Choo hit the go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning to back Jeanmar Gomez’s seven superb innings and lift the Cleveland Indians to a victory over Minnesota.

Choo’s base hit off Twins closer Matt Capps (0-2) scored pinch-runner Lou Marson from second base, bailing out an Indians bullpen that squandered a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning.

Gomez allowed one unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Casey Kotchman had two hits, including a two-run homer, and Joe Smith (3-1) picked up the win for the Indians.

YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 5

BALTIMORE — Mark Teixeira hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning, Curtis Granderson also connected, and the New York Yankees got three hits from Alex Rodriguez in a victory over the Orioles.

Teixeira had five hits in his previous 33 at-bats and was hitting .220 when he drove a 1-2 pitch from former Yankee Luis Ayala (1-1) into the right-field seats.

Yankees starter Ivan Nova allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings before leaving with a bruised and sprained right foot.

David Phelps (1-1) entered in the sixth and got three outs. Rafael Soriano, the sixth New York pitcher, worked the ninth for his second save.

ROYALS 3, RANGERS 1

ARLINGTON, Texas — Bruce Chen pitched into the seventh inning for his second straight win and the Kansas City took advantage of Adrian Beltre’s throwing error for a win at Texas.

Chen (2-4) has won his last two starts since a four-game losing streak. The left-hander struck out seven and walked two over 6 2-3 innings, giving up only a massive homer to Nelson Cruz.

Scott Feldman (0-1) allowed two unearned runs over 4 2-3 innings in his second spot start this season.

Feldman gave up three hits, the last a two-run single by No. 9 hitter Alicides Escobar right after third baseman Beltre’s two-out throwing error.

WHITE SOX 7, TIGERS 5

CHICAGO — Dayan Viciedo homered and hit a go-ahead two-run single to finish with four RBIs, helping the White Sox rally for a victory over Detroit.

Adam Dunn hit his 12th home run of the season in the first inning for Chicago, surpassing his total from all of last year.

John Danks got off to a rough start for the White Sox, giving up three runs in the first. Danks surrendered five runs on nine hits in three innings of work — his shortest outing of the season.

Zach Stewart (1-1) earned the win, allowing only one hit over three scoreless innings.

Trailing 5-4, the White Sox loaded the bases with one out in the sixth against reliever Luke Putkonen (0-2).

NATIONALS 8, PADRES 5

WASHINGTON — Bryce Harper hit his first big league home run and Chad Tracy and Xavier Nady each connected in the eighth inning, leading the Washington Nationals to an 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Harper became the youngest major leaguer to homer since 1998, going deep on a solo shot to straightaway center field in the third inning off right-hander Tim Stauffer. The home run came in the outfielder’s 15th game and 54th at-bat with the Nationals.

Washington also lost another player to injury in a season that has been filled with them. Catcher Sandy Leon — making his major league debut — left the game in the fourth inning after spraining his right ankle in a collision at home plate.

Craig Stammen (3-0) got the win in relief, while Sean Burnett picked up his first save. Miles Mikolas (0-1) took the loss.

PHILLIES 5, ASTROS 1

PHILADELPHIA — Joe Blanton pitched seven-plus strong innings and Placido Polanco homered for his 2,000th career hit to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the Houston Astros.

Blanton (4-3) allowed six hits and one run, struck out seven and walked one while pitching in a steady light rain throughout. The right-hander continued his solid recent stretch, improving to 3-0 with a 2.10 ERA in his last four starts.

Freddy Galvis had three hits and drove in a pair of runs and Carlos Ruiz went 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Phillies, who have won three of four since manager Charlie Manuel’s much-publicized team meeting last Wednesday.

Marwin Gonzalez, pinch hitting to lead off the eighth, hit his first major league homer for the Astros’ lone run. Lucas Harrell (2-3) took the loss.

REDS 3, BRAVES 1

ATLANTA — Brandon Phillips drove in the go-ahead run with a double off the centerfield wall and the Cincinnati Reds scored two runs off Jonny Venters in the eighth inning to beat the Atlanta Braves.

The game was tied 1-1 when Drew Stubbs led off the eighth with an infield hit between the pitcher’s mound and third base. Stubbs moved to second base on a wild pitch by Venters (2-2). With one out, Phillips drove in Stubbs with the double. Chris Heisey added another double, his third hit of the game, to drive in Phillips.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman left the game after the seventh inning with blurred vision in his right eye. His status was to be updated after the game.

Logan Ondrusek (3-0) gave up one hit and one walk while recording two outs for the win, while Sean Marshall pitched the ninth for his sixth save.

METS 3, BREWERS 1

NEW YORK — Miguel Batista pitched seven shutout innings of four-hit ball and Daniel Murphy supplied the offense, sending the surprising New York Mets past the Milwaukee Brewers.

Given a vote of confidence by manager Terry Collins before the game, struggling closer Frank Francisco bounced back from a pair of rough outings to earn his ninth save. Murphy extended his recent tear at the plate by hitting an RBI single and scoring on a suicide squeeze — a play the Brewers failed to execute earlier.

The 41-year-old Batista (1-1), replacing injured Mike Pelfrey in the rotation, outpitched Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo (2-4), who matched his career high with six walks in six shaky innings.

PIRATES 3, MARLINS 2

MIAMI — Brad Lincoln pitched six innings to earn a victory in his first start of the season, and the Pittsburgh Pirates ended a streak of eight consecutive losses against the Marlins.

Lincoln (3-0), who had come out of the bullpen in his seven previous appearances this season, departed for a pinch-hitter with a 3-2 lead and an ERA of 1.33. He allowed four hits and walked one.

The Pirates, who rank last in the majors in runs, won with only six hits. Rod Barajas, who came into the game batting .162, hit his second homer, and Pedro Alvarez put Pittsburgh ahead to stay with an RBI double in the sixth.

The Pirates hadn’t beaten the Marlins since 2010 and went 0-6 against them last year. Miami’s Anibal Sanchez (2-1) took the loss.

CUBS 6, CARDINALS 4

ST. LOUIS — Alfonso Soriano singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Chicago Cubs sent the St. Louis Cardinals to their fourth straight loss at home.

Bryan LaHair had three hits for the Cubs, including a two-run homer to break a 1-for-14 slump. Chicago’s late rally wasn’t enough to make a winner of starter Ryan Dempster, whose winless streak reached 15 starts dating to last August.

Shawn Camp (2-1) allowed one hit in two innings of work and Rafael Dolis worked the ninth for his fourth save. Mitchell Boggs (0-1) took the loss.