Red Sox sluggers overpower Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz homered to back the strong pitching of Clay Buchholz and lead the resurgent Boston Red Sox to a 6-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.

The Red Sox beat baseball's top team for the first time in five tries, climbing a season-best four games over .500 (25-21) with their third straight win.

Buchholz (6-3) won his eighth consecutive road start dating to last August, the longest such streak by a Red Sox pitcher since Roger Clemens won nine in a row from July 18, 1992 to April 20, 1993.

The righthander allowed one run - Carlos Pena's eighth homer - and six hits over six innings.

Ortiz homered for the fifth time in his last nine games, hitting a solo shot off Wade Davis (4-4) in the second inning.

Youkilis, who is batting .400 (12 for 30) with five homers and 12 RBIs over his last nine games, made it 6-0 with a two-run shot off reliever Lance Cormier in the fourth.

Boston 013 200 000 – 6 12 0

Tampa Bay 000 100 000 – 1 6 0

Boston AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Tampa Bay AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Ellsbury cf 5   0   0   0   .250      Bartlett ss 4   0   1   0   .246

Pedroia 2b 5   1   3   0   .270      Crawford lf 4   0   1   0   .322

V.Martinez c 1   0   0   0   .258      Zobrist rf-2b 4   0   1   0   .307

1-Varitek pr-c 3   2   1   0   .313      Longoria 3b 4   0   1   0   .318

Youkilis 1b 4   2   1   2   .321      Jaso c 4   0   0   0   .328

D.Ortiz dh 4   1   2   1   .256      Blalock dh 4   0   0   0   .250

J.Drew rf 3   0   0   1   .272      C.Pena 1b 2   1   1   1   .191

Beltre 3b 4   0   3   1   .335      B.Upton cf 3   0   1   0   .215

Hermida lf 4   0   2   1   .231      Brignac 2b 2   0   0   0   .299

Scutaro ss 4   0   0   0   .257      a-Kapler ph-rf 1   0   0   0   .266

Totals 37   6   12   6         Totals 32   1   6   1      

a-lined out for Brignac in the 7th.1-ran for V.Martinez in the 3rd. LOB: Boston 7, Tampa Bay 5. 2B: Pedroia (15), Bartlett (11). HR: D.Ortiz (9), off W.Davis; Youkilis (10), off Cormier; C.Pena (8), off C.Buchholz. RBIs: Youkilis 2 (29), D.Ortiz (23), J.Drew (30), Beltre (27), Hermida (24), C.Pena (28). RLSP: Boston 3 (Scutaro 2, Youkilis); Tampa Bay 5 (Jaso 2, Bartlett 2, Zobrist). RA: Crawford. GIDP: Scutaro 2, Jaso. DP: Boston 1 (Scutaro, Youkilis); Tampa Bay 2 (Brignac, Bartlett, C.Pena), (Longoria, Zobrist, C.Pena).

Boston walks (3): V.Martinez, Youkilis, J.Drew.

Tampa Bay walk (1): C.Pena.

Boston strikeouts (4): Varitek, D.Ortiz, J.Drew, Beltre.

Tampa Bay strikeouts (9): Bartlett, Zobrist 2, Longoria 2, Blalock, B.Upton, Brignac 2.

Boston IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

C.Buchholz (W 6-3) 6   6   1   1   1   8   108   3.07

Okajima 2   0   0   0   0   0   21   4.60

D.Bard 1   0   0   0   0   1   11   2.25

Tampa Bay IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

W.Davis (L 4-4) 32/3   7   5   5   3   0   97   4.01

Cormier 21/3   3   1   1   0   0   37   3.15

Sonnanstine 3   2   0   0   0   4   38   3.60

IR-S: Cormier 1-1. Umpires: Home, Tim Tschida; First, Bob Davidson; Second, Alfonso Marquez; Third, Tim Timmons.

T: 3:08. A: 21,430 (36,973).

White Sox 7, Indians 2

CLEVELAND - Mark Teahen drove in three runs as Chicago snapped a five-game losing streak against Cleveland by beating the hapless Indians.

Teahen hit a two-run double in Chicago's four-run first inning off Justin Masterson (0-5), who lost his 11th straight decision. The righthander hasn't won in 16 starts since Aug. 20.

John Danks (4-3) allowed two runs and six hits in five innings. The left-hander had been winless in his previous four starts, which included three straight losses, and the White Sox scored just three runs in those three games.

Former Phillies minor-leaguer Jason Donald, sent to Cleveland last summer in the Cliff Lee deal, had a pair of doubles for the Indians.

Chicago 400 100 101 – 7 14 2

Cleveland 000 200 000 – 2 7 0

Chicago AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Cleveland AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Pierre lf 5   1   2   0   .266      Crowe cf 5   0   0   0   .286

Pierzynski c 4   0   2   0   .222      Choo rf 5   0   0   0   .299

Rios cf 4   2   1   2   .309      Kearns lf 4   0   0   0   .294

Konerko 1b 4   1   0   0   .262      Branyan 1b 4   1   1   0   .221

Kotsay dh 5   1   1   1   .195      Peralta 3b 4   1   1   0   .236

An.Jones rf 4   1   1   0   .239      Grudzielanek2b 4   0   1   0   .264

Teahen 3b 4   0   3   3   .248      LaPorta dh 4   0   0   1   .206

1-Ramirez prss 0   0   0   0   .238      Marson c 4   0   2   1   .212

Vizquel ss-3b 5   0   2   0   .200      Donald ss 2   0   2   0   .208

Beckham 2b 4   1   2   0   .200      Totals 36   2   7   2      

Totals 39   7   14   6      

1-ran for Teahen in the 7th. E: Teahen (8), Al.Ramirez (7). LOB: Chicago 10, Cleveland 10. 2B: Kotsay (1), An.Jones (5), Teahen (6), Peralta (11), Donald 2 (2). HR: Rios (9), off Ambriz. RBIs: Rios 2 (23), Kotsay (8), Teahen 3 (11), LaPorta (5), Marson (2). SB: Rios (14). S: Pierzynski. RLSP: Chicago 4 (Vizquel 2, Konerko, Kotsay); Cleveland 6 (Kearns 3, Crowe 2, Grudzielanek). RA: Rios, Kotsay, Crowe, LaPorta.

Chicago walks (4): Rios, Konerko, An.Jones, Al.Ramirez.

Cleveland walks (3): Kearns, Donald 2.

Chicago strikeouts (2): Konerko, An.Jones.

Cleveland strikeouts (8): Choo 2, Kearns, Branyan 2, Peralta, LaPorta, Marson.

Chicago IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Danks (W 4-3) 5   6   2   2   2   5   112   2.37

Santos (H 3) 1   1   0   0   0   1   12   0.52

Thornton 1   0   0   0   0   2   12   2.00

Putz 1   0   0   0   0   0   17   3.68

Jenks 1   0   0   0   1   0   15   5.06

Cleveland IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Masterson (L 0-5) 4   9   5   5   2   0   95   6.13

Laffey 3   2   1   1   1   1   45   3.70

R.Perez 1   0   0   0   0   0   13   6.92

Ambriz 1   3   1   1   1   1   28   4.38

IBB: off Masterson (Rios). WP: Masterson 3. Umpires: Home, Angel Hernandez; First, Paul Schrieber; Second, Rob Drake; Third, Joe West.

T: 3:00. A: 10,166 (45,569).