• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Boston's Lester goes for win No. 8 vs. White Sox

May 30, 2011 - 2:49 PM (Sports Network) - Riding a three-start win streak, Jon Lester seeks to become baseball's first eight-game winner and give the Boston Red Sox their first home win over the Chicago White Sox in five games this evening in the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park.

Lester has won seven straight decisions since his lone loss of the season on April 12 and did struggle a bit during a three-start stretch in mid-May in which he allowed 14 runs in 17 1/3 innings. He went 2-0 in that span though and then turned in a gem versus the Indians on Wednesday.

Though the 27-year-old lefty got plenty of backing in a 14-2 win, Lester did his part by holding Cleveland to just three hits and a walk over six scoreless innings, striking out seven. He retired 15 straight at one point and did not allow a runner past second base.

"Obviously it's good. Takes a lot of pressure off of not only me, but the defense," Lester said about working with a big lead. "You don't have to be perfect."

Lester is 7-1 on the season with a 3.36 earned run average in 11 starts and is the AL's lone seven-game winner so far.

The former second-round pick is 2-2 with a 4.99 ERA in five career starts against the White Sox and will try to get the Red Sox on track in this series. Chicago won six of seven versus Boston last year and is 10-2 in the past 12 meetings, a span that includes a four-game winning streak at Fenway Park, its longest at the historical venue since another four-game run during the 1987 season.

If the White Sox can pick up another win today, they may have the Tigers to thank. Boston plated 42 runs over a five-game winning streak, a run it extended in the first game of a doubleheader with Detroit on Sunday with a 4-3 victory. David Ortiz hit a pinch-hit go-ahead homer in the top of the ninth inning off Tigers' closer Jose Valverde and Jonathan Papelbon notched his 10th save of the season.

"I know he has a good fastball and a good splitter," Ortiz said of Valverde. "It's not like you have a lot of options when you come off the bench to pinch- hit. You just have to look for a good pitch and he gave it to me."

Mike Cameron and Dustin Pedroia each had solo shots, but the Red Sox would not cross the plate in the nightcap, falling 3-0 after Detroit's Justin Verlander pitched into the eighth inning to hold Boston's offense in check.

Josh Beckett worked six innings and gave up two runs for the Red Sox, who still lead the Yankees by a game for first place in the AL East.

Chicago comes to town having lost the final three games of its four-game series with Toronto, getting blasted out of town, 13-4, in Sunday's finale. John Danks fell to 0-8 on the season after giving up a season-high nine runs -- six in a 51-pitch first inning -- and three homers over four innings.

Danks won a career-high 15 games last year, but is the first White Sox starter to open a season 0-8 since Eddie Smith went 0-10 in 1942.

"There's nothing you can do about it. [The Blue Jays] swung the bats good today," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Carlos Quentin and Ramon Castro both hit homers for the White Sox, who fell to 2-5 on a 10-game road trip.

One day shy of his 30th birthday, White Sox starter Jake Peavy will attempt to get his club back in the win column.

Peavy threw a three-hit shutout versus Cleveland on May 18, but saw his last start limited to just three innings at Texas on Tuesday because of a two hour and 58 minute rain delay. The right-hander gave up two runs and five hits before his exit.

Peavy will face Boston for just the second time in his career and first since June 24, 2007 with the Padres. He took the loss on that day, allowing three runs and nine hits over five innings.