Lester (15-6) allowed just three hits, all singles, and walked one to improve to 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA in five starts since losing at Minnesota on Aug. 10. He also matched a season high for strikeouts and is 4-0 in his last six starts against Toronto.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Josh Reddick homered as the Red Sox matched a season-high with 20 hits and scored at least two runs in each of the first five innings.
In New York, only 500 fans or so were left in the stands early Wednesday when the New York Yankees finished off a rain-delayed 5-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles at 2:15 a.m., getting the go-ahead run on Francisco Cervelli’s disputed home run.
With few options left for a makeup date, the messy game began at 11:08 p.m. after a wait of 4 hours, 3 minutes.
Cervelli hit his tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning off Tommy Hunter (3-3). Two fans reached near the left-field wall to grab it, and even though Orioles manager Buck Showalter argued, the umpires upheld their original home-run call after a video replay.
In Minneapolis, Jake Peavy struck out a season-high nine and Alex Rios homered to lead the Chicago.
Peavy (7-7) allowed four hits and walked two in 6 1-3 innings against a Twins team that had three players who were called up from Double-A in the last two days.
Alejandro De Aza had two hits, including a triple, and an RBI, and Sergio Santos picked up his 29th save for the White Sox, who have won three in a row and eight of 12.
In Cleveland, Victor Martinez drove in three runs and Detroit dropped Cleveland 8 1/2 games back in the AL Central.
Rick Porcello (13-8) was staked to an 8-0 lead after the top of the second inning as the Tigers knocked around Indians starter Fausto Carmona (6-14). Porcello gave up three hits and one run over 6 1-3 innings. He allowed only a single to Jason Kipnis in the second before Kosuke Fukudome homered to open Cleveland’s seventh.
Detroit has won five straight and is 15-4 since Aug. 19. The Tigers have won their last six meetings with Cleveland after the Indians took six of the first eight.
In St. Petersburg, Florida, C.J. Wilson threw a five-hitter, David Murphy drove in four runs and AL West-leading Texas beat Tampa Bay.
Wilson (15-6) matched his career high in wins from last year and became the first Texas left-hander to record 15 or more wins in consecutive seasons. He has three complete games this year.
Murphy and Ian Kinsler homered for the Rangers, who are 3-2 on a six-game trip to Boston and Tampa Bay. Adrian Beltre extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a third-inning single.
In Anaheim, California, Felix Hernandez pitched eight innings of four-hit ball to win at Angel Stadium for the first time since 2006, and Seattle snapped a five-game skid.
Justin Smoak and Kyle Seager scored unearned runs for the Mariners, who had lost 18 of their last 21 games at Angel Stadium before Hernandez (14-11) outpitched Ervin Santana and silenced the Angels’ improved lineup for his sixth victory in eight starts.
Alberto Callaspo drove in an unearned run for the Angels, who committed four errors and dropped 3 1/2 games behind Texas in the AL West standings.
In Oakland, California, Eric Hosmer and Jeff Francoeur hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning, Danny Duffy won for the first time in more than a month and Kansas City beat Oakland for the second straight game.
Salvador Perez added three hits while six players drove in runs for the Royals, who have scored 29 runs in their last three road games.
Jemille Weeks had three hits and two RBIs for Oakland, which has dropped two straight after sweeping Seattle over the weekend.
