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Boston defeats Philadelphia to avoid sweep

Jun 30, 2011 - 9:50 PM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The Red Sox came alive after Cole Hamels left with a bruise on his non-pitching hand, scoring all their runs against Phillies relievers in a 5-2 victory on Thursday afternoon to avoid a sweep.

Hamels was knocked out of the game by a line drive in the fourth inning.

"I don't wish for anyone to get hurt. I hope he's OK, but we were able to get to their bullpen and take advantage of the game from there," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

Stymied by Cliff Lee and Vance Worley in the first two games of the series -- and by Hamels through the first four innings of this one -- Boston avoided being swept by the Phillies for the first time in 11 years.

Drew Sutton and Jacoby Ellsbury delivered RBI singles in a two-run fifth inning and Dustin Pedroia and Jason Varitek hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth.

Varitek hit two homers and the Red Sox banged out 13 hits to back seven scoreless innings by Jon Lester, who finally got win No. 10 in his third try.

Lester (10-4) improved to 2-0 against the Phillies, giving up just two hits and two walks while striking out five.

"You want a quality start and hope to not give up a lot of runs, but you can't worry about winning or losing streaks you just need to try to execute your pitches," said Lester.

Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning for Philadelphia, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Much of the talk afterward centered on the health of Hamels.

He was hit by an Adrian Gonzalez liner in the fourth inning and has a contusion, the Phillies said. X-rays taken during the game were negative.

Manager Charlie Manuel raised his hand and showed where the ball hit Hamels, near the base of his right thumb, and said the starter had swelling in the area.

"We do expect him to make his next start," said Manuel. "He feels good at the moment."

The ball was hit hard enough by Gonzalez that it knocked Hamels' glove off. He threw Gonzalez out at first base and remained in the game to get Dustin Pedroia on a grounder for the third out, but was taken out for David Herndon to start the fifth.

After entering the game with a 3-0 record and 1.71 earned run average in three career starts against Boston, Hamels struck out two and gave up just two hits before exiting.

The Red Sox then jumped on Herndon (0-2).

Josh Reddick tripled with one out and Sutton knocked him in with a base hit. Marco Scutaro reached with a single and Ellsbury hit a two-out fastball to left field for a 2-0 lead.

Varitek jumped on a two-out slider in the sixth to make it 3-0, giving Herndon a line of three runs on five hits in two innings.

Drew Carpenter worked around two singles to pitch a scoreless seventh, but gave up consecutive solo shots to Pedroia and Varitek in the eighth. Reddick hit the next pitch to the warning track in right field, narrowly missing another homer.

Until the fifth inning, the Red Sox's only run in the series had come on starter John Lackey's RBI double on Wednesday. They improved to just 2-6 in their last eight games and will end their nine-game road trip in NL parks with a three-game series against the Astros in Houston.

Placido Polanco singled to lead off the ninth against Bobby Jenks and Howard blasted a one-out shot into the upper deck above right field to ruin Boston's shutout chances.

Jonathan Papelbon got the final two outs after Shane Victorino walked, securing his 15th save.

Game Notes

Before the game, the Red Sox designated outfielder Mike Cameron for assignment and recalled infielder Yamaico Navarro from Triple-A Pawtucket...The Phillies are headed on the road for six games against the Toronto Blue Jays and Florida Marlins. They fell to 14-5 in their last 19 games.