ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz homered to back the strong pitching of Clay Buchholz and lead the resurgent Boston Red Sox to a 6-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
The Red Sox beat baseball's top team for the first time in five tries, climbing a season-best four games over .500 (25-21) with their third straight win on a difficult road trip that began in Philadelphia.
Buchholz (6-3) won his eighth consecutive road start dating to last August. The right-hander allowed one run — Carlos Pena's eighth homer — and six hits over six innings. Hideki Okajima and Daniel Bard didn't allow any baserunners the rest of the way.
Ortiz homered for the fifth time in his last nine games, hitting a solo shot off Wade Davis (4-4) in the second.
Youkilis is batting .400 (12 for 30) with five homers and 12 RBIs over his last nine games.
WHITE SOX 7, INDIANS 2: At Cleveland, Mark Teahen drove in three runs, John Danks stopped a personal three-game slide and Chicago snapped a five-game losing streak to Cleveland. Teahen hit a two-run double in Chicago's four-run first inning off Justin Masterson (0-5), who lost his 11th straight decision.
BLUE JAYS 6, ANGELS 0: At Anaheim, Calif., Brett Cecil pitched two-hit ball into the eighth inning, Adam Lind drove in a pair of runs for Toronto. Cecil (4-2) struck out three and won his second consecutive start since allowing eight runs in two innings on May 14.