Tim Wakefield threw eight innings, giving up just three hits with four strikeouts and no walks as the Red Sox defeated the Blue Jays 7-0. He allowed seven runs in 1 2/3 innings in his last start against the Rangers.
Cliff Lee won his 11th straight decision and moved to 22-2, helping the Indians to a 12-5 victory over the Royals. Lee allowed four earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. He is 5-0 in five outings against Kansas City.
Jorge Cantu hit his 25th homer in the Marlins’ 2-1 win over the Nationals. Florida is the first team to have four infielders hit 25 or more. Mike Jacobs (32), Dan Uggla (30), Hanley Ramirez (29) and Cantu have 116 total.
THREE DOWN
With Lee opposing him, Gil Meche already knew he was going to have a tough night, but the Royals’ righty was lit up for six runs on 10 hits in five innings just six days after a brilliant outing against the Indians.
Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro suffered a beatdown, allowing seven runs on eight hits in four innings in a 10-2 loss to the Pirates. St. Louis dropped five games behind the Brewers in the wild-card race and …
… Received more bad news as Chris Carpenter will miss the rest of the year because of weakness from a muscle strain in his right shoulder. He pitched just four games this year after recovering from elbow surgery.
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EDITED BY MIKE PANKOW AND DANIEL ELLMAN
