Game 126 - Red Sox 6, Royals 1

The Red Sox got some unlikely offense in the form of an RBI triple by Jason Varitek (his 1st 3-bagger since 2007), and home runs by Darnell McDonald (5) and Carl Crawford (8) in beating the Royals 6-1 in the final game of this 4-game series.

Jon Lester pitched into the 7th inning allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 4 walks to go with 3 strikeouts in winning his 13th game of the season. Daniel Bard pitched out of a 1st & 3rd jam in the 7th. Dan Wheeler came on in the 9th to finish things off.

NOTES -

All of Darnell McDonald's home runs this season have come off left-handers.

Sox were without Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz (hit by pitch & right heel bursitis respectively). Ortiz took BP for the 2nd straight day and did some jogging.

Red Sox finish the 2011 season with a 5-3 record against the Royals. They are 11-9 for the month of August. Up next is a 4-game series in Texas against the Rangers to close out the road trip.

Jon Lester improves to 13-6 on the season and 5-1 over his career against the Royals.