Lester, Red Sox beat Royals to win series

Jon Lester sparkled until running into 1 on Sunday to take three of four games against the Royals.

Lester (13-6) gave up just one hit before the seventh, when the Royals scored their only run to knock him out of the game with no outs. The left-hander struck out three, walked four and moved to 3-2 in six starts since coming off the disabled list last month.

Darnell McDonald and Carl Crawford hit solo homers for the Red Sox, who remained a half-game behind the Yankees for the AL East lead after New York beat Minnesota on Sunday.