G70: Brewers 4, Red Sox 2

Brewers - 202 000 000 - 4  8  1
Red Sox - 020 000 000 - 2  9  1

Lester (8-7-4-3-8, 115) struggled early, giving up home runs to Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart on his third and fourth pitches of the night. (His second pitch, a 1-0 offering to Weeks, actually should have resulted in the first out. Adrian Gonzalez and Jarrod Saltalamacchia both chased Weeks's pop-up over by the Red Sox dugout, but there was confusion about who was calling for it, and the ball hit off Gonzalez's glove for an error as he tried a last-second basket catch.)

Plus, Lester's fifth pitch was drilled for a double by Ryan Braun. But in the span of four pitches, the threat was over, as Prince Fielder flied to left and Casey McGehee lined into a 5-4 double play.

It was only the third tme in his career Lester had allowed a leadoff home run to his first batter (Hanley Ramirez, July 2, 2006; Ian Kinsler, April 1, 2011) and the first time it had happened at Fenway. It was the second time Lester has given up back-to-back homers (Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira, May 4, 2009).

In the Brewers third, George Kottaras hit a dong and Lester, after getting two outs, suddenly lost his control. He walked Braun on five pitches, walked Fielder on four, and fell behind McGehee 3-0, before McGehee singled in Milwaukee's fourth run.

Boston had tied the game in the second against Wolf (7-9-2-1-3, 111). Kevin Youkilis doubled and David Ortiz walked. After Darnell McDonald lined out to third and Marco Scutaro was called out on strikes, Saltalamacchia and Mike Cameron had RBI-singles.

After that, though, the bats were fairly dormant. Singles in the third by Yook and Tiz with two down went for naught as McDonald struck out. Scutaro doubled to lead off the fourth but was stranded there. Yook reached on an error by Fielder to open the eighth, but Ortiz rapped into a 3-6-3 DP.

Randy Wolf / Jon Lester

Wolf has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 10 of his 14 starts this season, and five of his last six starts.

Home Cooking: The Red Sox have 10+ hits in each of their last four home games (batting .340) and have homered in each of their last 11 games at Fenway. They have won 12 of their last 16 home games.

In his last 11 home games, David Ortiz is hitting .511 (23-for-45). Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .533 (24-for-45) in his last 10 games at Fenway.

Overall, Gonzalez has reached base in 17 straight games, with a batting line of .415/.500/.846 (1.346 OPS). Of his 27 hits, 15 have gone for extra-bases: eight doubles, one triple, six home runs. ... In 26 games since May 20, Evil Bert is hitting .415/.471/.698. ... Gonzalez leads the American League with 99 hits; he also has 999 career hits.

AL East: Yankees/Cubs at 4 PM; Marlins/Rays and Blue Jays/Reds at 7 PM.