Scott Kazmir gave the Tampa Bay Rays an All-Star performance. Jon Lester provided Boston with a much-needed lift on the road in Seattle.

Tampa Bay's ace won for just the second time in his last eight starts, allowing a season-low two hits in seven innings of the Rays' 4-0 victory over the struggling Oakland Athletics Monday night.

"It feels great. I feel like it's long overdue," said Kazmir after his first start since the All-Star break. "This is certainly something to build on, but it's just huge that we set the tone for the series with this win."

Lester, who was born in nearby Tacoma and starred at that city's Bellarmine Prep high school, pitched 7Z\c shutout innings before leaving the game after a hard one-hopper went off his right shin.

"It's nice to come back home and pitch halfway decent," he said.

He left the game with a trainer and the bases loaded but did not appear injured while watching from the bench as Jonathan Papelbon got Raul Ibanez to ground into a double play.

Papelbon finished the ninth for his 29th save in 33 chances in Boston's major league-best 11th shutout. The Red Sox held on for a 4-0 victory.

After losing all three weekend games to the Angels in Anaheim, Calif., Boston entered Monday 21-32 (.396) away from Fenway Park, 11th in the American League.

In Tampa, the A's lost their sixth in a row for their longest skid since they dropped nine straight from July 6-17, 2007. They've been held to nine runs during the slide.

The Rays gave Kazmir (8-5) an extra day to get ready for his first start since July 13, and the left-hander responded with his longest outing since he went 8 innings to beat Texas on June 6.

In Seattle, Lester (8-3) was back in the city where he first had his sore back examined during a series in 2006, before being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He received treatments here during the winter.

Yankees 12, Twins 4

At New York, Alex Rodriguez had a two-run homer and RBI single to help New York to its eighth straight home win.

Orioles 8, Blue Jays 3

At Baltimore, Adam Jones homered in the third, then got a key infield single in a three-run fifth for Baltimore.

Jones hit a two-run homer and scored twice. He has reached base safely in 20 straight games, going 29-for-78 (.372) with 15 RBI.

Rangers 6, White Sox 1

At Chicago, Josh Hamilton hit a three-run homer and Hank Blalock added a two-run shot to power Texas.

Hamilton hit his 22nd homer in the third off Javier Vazquez, as the White Sox lost their third straight, all at home.

Tigers 19, Royals 4

At Kansas City, Mo., Miguel Cabrera had five hits and six RBI and Matt Joyce added four hits and five RBI for Detroit.

Joyce hit a three-run homer in the third and had two singles in the Tigers' 10-run eighth, which also included a three-run homer by Gary Sheffield. Cabrera singled and doubled and drove in two runs in the eighth when the Tigers sent 15 men to the plate.

Indians 5, Angels 2

At Anaheim, Calif., Andy Marte, Casey Blake and Jhonny Peralta homered for Cleveland as it snapped Los Angeles' five-game winning streak.