LESTER HUGE, BECKETT HURT

JON LESTER struck out 11 in seven innings to win his fourth straight decision, Marco Scutaro and David Ortiz each matched a career high with four hits and the visiting Boston Red Sox bashed the Toronto Blue Jays, 14-0, last night.

That was the good news.

The bad news?

Josh Beckett will miss his next start due to a sprained right ankle, according to a report.

ESPNBoston.com, citing a team source, reported that the righthander - who left in the fourth inning of Monday's series opener after experiencing pain in his ankle - is not expected to miss more than a start or two. He flew to Boston yesterday to be examined by a specialist.

The Red Sox will juggle their rotation and Lester, who allowed just three hits, all singles, last night, will start for Beckett on Sunday.

Lester (15-6) improved to 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA in five starts since Aug. 10. He also matched a season high for strikeouts.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Josh Reddick homered as the Red Sox matched a season high with 20 hits and scored at least two runs in each of the first five innings. It was the first time in franchise history Boston has achieved the feat, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Kyle Weiland pitched the final two innings for Boston.

After losing, 1-0, in 11 innings on Monday, the Red Sox jumped on Blue Jays lefthander Luis Perez (3-3) for four runs while batting around in the first inning. Adrian Gonzalez hit an RBI double, Ortiz and Scutaro had back-to-back RBI singles and Carl Crawford capped it with a run-scoring double.

Gonzalez singled home a run in the second and Kevin Youkilis followed with an RBI double. Boston made it 8-0 in the third on Saltalamacchia's 15th homer.

At Cleveland, Victor Martinez drove in three runs and the Detroit Tigers beat the Indians, 10-1, to drop Cleveland 8 1/2 games back in the AL Central. Rick Porcello (13-8), who was staked to an 8-0 lead after the top of the second inning, gave up three hits and one run over 6 1/3 innings. He allowed only a single to Jason Kipnis in the second before Kosuke Fukudome homered to open Cleveland's seventh.

Detroit has won five straight and is 15-4 since Aug. 19. The Tigers are seeking their first division championship since 1987, when they were in the AL East. Cleveland has lost four of six and is 40-54 since holding a seven-game lead in the Central on May 23.

* At St. Petersburg, C.J. Wilson threw a five-hitter, David Murphy drove in four runs as the AL West-leading Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 8-0. Wilson (15-6) matched his career high in wins from last year and became the first Texas lefthander to record 15 or more wins in consecutive seasons. Murphy and Ian Kinsler homered for the Rangers, and Adrian Beltre extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a third-inning single.

* At Minneapolis, Jake Peavy struck out a season-high nine and Alex Rios homered to help the Chicago White Sox to a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Peavy (7-7) allowed four hits and walked two in 6 1/3 innings against a Twins team that had three players who were called up from Double A in the last 2 days. Sergio Santos earned his 29th save for the White Sox. Liam Hendriks (0-1) allowed three runs and four hits over seven innings in his major league debut for Minnesota.