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Gonzalez, Red Sox rout Brewers

Jun 18, 2011 - 6:51 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Adrian Gonzalez finished 3-for-4 with a double and the go-ahead home run in the fifth inning, as Boston routed Milwaukee, 10- 4, in the opener of a three-game interleague set from Fenway Park.

Kevin Youkilis and J.D. Drew each drove in two runs, while Jacoby Ellsbury homered and David Ortiz collected three hits and an RBI for the Red Sox, who have won three in a row and 12 of their last 13.

John Lackey (5-5) worked eight innings for the win, yielding eight hits and four runs with five strikeouts.

"It's fun to pitch here for sure, but we've got to swing the bats," Lackey said. "That's one thing you hang your hat on when you're out there if you give up a couple runs, just hang in there because the boys are coming, they can really swing it."

Casey McGehee drove in two runs and Prince Fielder had two hits and an RBI for the Brewers, losers in four of their last five.

Marco Estrada (1-4) allowed three runs on four hits with two walks in four relief frames. Shaun Marcum started but recorded only three outs, charged with four hits and two runs on 44 pitches. He left the game with a left hip flexor strain.

"I think anytime you lose a guy that has been as good as him in a ballgame that early against a great team, yeah it's tough," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said.

Gonzalez snapped a 4-4 deadlock, leading off the fifth against Estrada by clearing the Green Monster, then Boston took a 7-4 edge in the sixth.

Daniel Ray Herrera came in but issued a leadoff walk to Drew and served up Jason Varitek's RBI double. After an Ellsbury groundout, Dustin Pedroia's seeing-eye single through the right side plated another run.

The Sox then extended their lead to 10-4 in the seventh.

Drew Sutton -- called up for injured regular shortstop Jed Lowrie and inserted into the game when Youkilis left with an intestinal issue -- led off with a double. Ortiz followed with a single, and when Darnell McDonald's grounder ticked off the top of Brewers shortstop Craig Counsell's glove, Sutton scored. After a sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position, Drew singled in both.

Lackey finished his outing by retiring the side in order in the eighth and Matt Albers did the same in the ninth.

Milwaukee scored twice in its first at-bat on a two-run single from McGehee, but Boston countered with two in the home half on an Ellsbury homer to right and an RBI double from Ortiz.

Youkilis put the Sox ahead with a two-run hit in the second off Estrada, but the Brewers responded in the third on a Fielder RBI single and a double-play grounder from McGehee.

Game Notes

This was the first meeting between the teams since the Sox swept a three-game series at Fenway from May 17-18, 2008...Prior to the game, the Red Sox announced that reliever Jonathan Papelbon had his three-game suspension for contact with an umpire was reduced to two games...Papelbon will serve the ban on Friday and Saturday...The Sox also placed Lowrie on the 15-day disabled list and recalled Sutton from Triple-A Pawtucket...Boston leftfielder Carl Crawford left the game in the second inning with what was later termed a Grade 1 hamstring strain.