"It had been 93 years since the Chicago Cubs played at Fenway Park, making last night's series opener against the Red Sox even less frequent than sightings of Halley's Comet.

To mark the occasion, Jon Lester did something exceedingly rare.

In 133 career starts spanning six seasons for the Red Sox, the ace left-hander never before had allowed as many hits as the 12 the Cubs picked up. Lester now has allowed 14 runs in his last three outings, raising at least a few eyebrows along the way.

Last night, it didn't much matter. The Red Sox won their season-high seventh consecutive game, a 15-5 giggler attributable mostly to their 19-hit barrage and the Bad News Cubbies' four errors. After a 2-10 start, the Sox now are 24-20 and only a half-game behind the first-place Rays in the AL East.

"That's where we want to be," catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. "We know what we're capable of doing. We know that we should be in first. We've got a great team, a great pitching staff, and there's no reason why we shouldn't be in first place right now. Our goal is to be in first and stay in first all year.""