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Lester's arm, Bay's bat carry Red Sox over Orioles

Jon Lester outpitched Jeremy Guthrie, and Jason Bay homered twice and drove in four runs to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 last night.

Lester (12-4) allowed one run, four hits and a walk in seven innings to improve to 5-0 lifetime against the Orioles. The left-hander is 9-1 since May 25.

Manny Delcarmen issued a pair of two-out walks in eighth before Jonathan Papelbon gave up a double to Aubrey Huff that cut Boston's lead to 4-3. After David Ortiz hit an RBI double in the ninth and scored on a grounder by Bay, Papelbon finished for his 33rd save in 37 tries.

Bay hit a solo shot in the second inning and a two-run drive in the eighth. Since coming over from Pittsburgh on July 31 in the three-team trade that sent Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bay is batting .348 with three homers and 16 RBIs in 16 games.

Jason Varitek also homered for the Red Sox, who have won eight of 12 and lead the AL wild-card race.

Guthrie (10-9) gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings, but was victimized by a familiar lack of support: Baltimore has totaled 14 runs in his nine losses. The right-hander had won each of his previous four starts, permitting only one run in each game.

Huff hit his 27th home run, drove in three runs and finished with two of Baltimore's five hits.

Bay homered leading off the second, and Varitek added a long drive over the right-field scoreboard later in the inning to interrupt a lengthy slump. Boston's captain was batting .164 with only two home runs in his previous 63 games.

Huff connected in the fourth to get Baltimore to 2-1. His second homer in two games left him seven short of matching his career high, set in 2003 with Tampa Bay.

Except for that hit, the Orioles didn't get a runner into scoring position until the seventh, when Kevin Millar hit a one-out double. Luke Scott then struck out on a 3-2 pitch and Jay Payton grounded out.

Boston went up 4-3 against Rocky Cherry in the eighth. After Millar booted a grounder to first for an error, Bay hit his 25th homer of the season (including 22 with the Pirates).

This program aired on August 19, 2008. The audio for this program is not available.

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