G86: Red Sox 14, Blue Jays 3

Red Sox   - 037 301 000 - 14 14  0
Blue Jays - 000 002 100 -  3  7  1

How lopsided was this game? After four innings, the Jays' #7 hitter had come to the plate only once; the Red Sox's #7 hitter had scored three runs.

Lester (6-4-2-2-6, 96) allowed only one hit through the first five innings. Boston led 14-0 before the Blue Jays got a runner to second base.

Bill Hall hit a two-run homer in the second inning, and doubled in the sixth and eighth. Three Sox belted dongs in the third: Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Beltre went back-to-back, and Mike Cameron connected one out later. Cameron also singled twice, walked, drove in three runs, and scored three times.

Cleveland beat the Rays 9-3 and the Yankees beat the Mariners 6-1. Boston stays 5 GB, Tampa Bay drops to 3 GB. ... In the National League, the Reds led Philadelphia 7-1 going to the bottom of the ninth. The Phillies scored six times to tie it, then got two in the tenth to win 9-7.

Jon Lester / Ricky Romero

Scutaro, SS
McDonald, LF
Ortiz, DH
Youkilis, 1B
Beltre, 3B
Drew, RF
Cameron, CF
Hall, 2B
Cash, C

Third-place Boston visits fourth-place Toronto for three games before the All-Star break next week.

The Red Sox have lost eight of their last 11 road games. They have beaten the Blue Jays in five of six games this season, sweeping a Skydome series on April 26-27-28, and taking two of three at Fenway on May 10-11-12.

Lester has a 1.84 ERA over his last 14 starts (98 innings); that's everything after his three bad starts to begin the season. He has allowed more than two runs in only two of those 14 starts -- 0, 0, 1, 2, 4, 2, 0, 1, 0, 6, 2, 1, 1, 1 -- dating back to April 23. He faced Toronto on April 28, allowing one hit in seven shutout innings, with 11 strikeouts.

Romero had a 1.88 ERA over six starts from May 30 to June 28, before allowing eight runs in 2.2 innings to the Yankees his last time out.

Daniel Bard has pitched only twice in the last 12 days, getting some much needed rest. He has not allowed a run or a walk in his last nine outings (8 innings, 3 hits, 9 strikeouts since June 15). Since May 22, he had allowed only one of 13 inherited runners to score.

Jed Lowrie played shortstop for Lowell (A) last night and went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI in a 5-4 loss to the Jamestown Jammers. (Peter Abraham notes that one of Jamestown's players is named Sequoyah Stonecipher.) Lowrie will play shortstop, second base, and third base during his rehab assignment.

And:

Spiders/Rays, 7 PM
Yankees/Mariners, 10 PM

July 9:

1914 - The Austin Senators of the Texas League lose their 27th straight game. The streak will reach 32 games and the Senators will finish the season 31-114.

1946 - The All-Star Game is played at Fenway Park and Ted Williams steals the show, with two home runs, two singles, one walk, four runs scored, and five RBI as the AL wins 12-0.

1971 - In his major league debut, Atlanta shortstop Leo Foster commits an error on his first fielding chance (the first batter in the bottom of the first), then hits into a double play in the fifth and a triple play in the seventh. Foster was traded to the Red Sox in the spring of 1978 and played 49 games with Pawtucket, but was never called up to Boston.

1976 - Boston Red Sox owner/president Tom Yawkey dies at the age of 73.

2005 - In his first at-bat, Cubs pinch-hitter Adam Greenberg is hit in the head by the first pitch he sees. That one pitch was the extent of his major league career (he last played in the minors in 2008).