BOSTON (AP) - Jon Lester took little solace in a strong recovery after a rough start. <\/p>\n
Allowing seven runs in the first two innings was too much for Boston to overcome and end a skid that hit seven straight with a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. <\/p>\n
I just wasnt able to do it with anything. Pick a pitch, I wasnt able to do it, Lester said. It just wasnt good from the start. <\/p>\n
Its been a common theme for the defending World Series champion Red Sox, who are on their longest losing streak since losing the final eight games of the 2012 season. <\/p>\n
Mark Buehrle won his major league-leading eighth game, Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista homered on consecutive pitches for the Blue Jays as they completed a three-game sweep and won for the eighth time in 10 games. <\/p>\n
Lester (4-6) had his worst outing of the season, allowing seven runs and seven hits through 1 1-3 innings. He settled down and retired 12 straight batters and left with one out in the seventh. Lester allowed 10 hits and striking out just three. <\/p>\n
He just missed some spots and theyre hot right now. Missed spots against these guys, theyre going whack it, catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. I think the frustrating thing for him was he made some good pitches and they got hits. <\/p>\n
Buehrle (8-1) allowed two runs in the first two innings and left after giving up seven hits and no walks with five strikeouts in seven innings. He retired 11 of his last 12 batters. <\/p>\n
Lester retired the first batter of the game, Jose Reyes, on a grounder. But Cabrera hit a 1-0 pitch for his eighth homer and Bautista followed with his 12th. Both were to left field. <\/p>\n
Toronto kept rolling in the second when six of its first seven batters reached base on five hits and a walk. <\/p>\n
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Red Sox's slide hits 7 with 7-2 loss to Jays<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BOSTON (AP) - Jon Lester took little solace in a strong recovery after a rough start. Allowing seven runs in the first two innings was too much for Boston to overcome and end a skid that hit seven straight with a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. Continue reading