Franklin Morales and Ryan Kalish provided a much-needed lift for the injured Red Sox.Morales struck out a career-high nine and Kalish hit a tie-breaking single in the seventh inning to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 7-4 victory against the Cubs on Sunday night.Kalish hadn’t played in a Major League game since Oct. 3, 2010, but was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket before the game when Ryan Sweeney went on the disabled list (irritation in a bone in his left foot). Kalish stepped to the plate with the game tied at 3 and runners at first and third and delivered a single to center.

“Got a chance in a big situation, kind of got over anxious at first,” he said. “I just stepped out, told myself this is baseball, I’ve been here before.”

Morales, starting in place of the injured Josh Beckett (right shoulder inflammation), gave up two runs and four hits in five innings in his first start since April 21, 2009, with Colorado.The Red Sox rallied in the seventh against Shawn Camp (2-4), who gave up hits to both batters he faced — a double to Darnell McDonald and single to Jarrod Saltalamacchia.Kalish then singled to center off James Russell to drive in McDonald and put the Red Sox ahead 4-3. Saltalamacchia scored on pinch-hitter Will Middlebrooks’ sacrifice fly, with Kalish advancing to third on catcher Wellington Castillo’s fielding error. Kalish then scored on Daniel Nanva’s squeeze bunt to give the Red Sox a 6-3 lead.Matt Albers (2-0) pitched a scoreless sixth to pick up the win.The Cubs loaded the bases with no outs against Alfredo Aceves in the ninth, but after David DeJesus hit a sacrifice fly to center, Reed Johnson struck out and Darwin Barney hit a popped out to third to end the game.The Red Sox continued to be bit by the injury bug Sunday.Nava entered the game in the sixth inning in place of Scott Podsednik, who left with left groin discomfort. Kevin Youkilis was forced from game in the eighth after he was stepped on.Valentine said neither player’s injury appears serious.David Ortiz hit his 16th home run of the season in the fourth inning off Cubs starter Paul Maholm to the left-center field bleachers, giving Boston a 3-2 lead.The Cubs tied it in the bottom of the sixth when, with runners on first and third, Jeff Baker hit a comebacker to Albers, who turned and fired to second, where both Pedroia and shortstop Mike Aviles converged at the bag simultaneously. Aviles dropped the ball and was charged with an error.Barney, who had reached on an error by third baseman Kevin Youkilis to open the inning, scored.Dustin Pedroia, mired in a 6-for-45 slump, had two hits for the Red Sox.Pedroia’s double to the gap in left-center in the first drove in Podsednik, and Pedroia scored on Ortiz’s one-out single to put Boston up 2-0.Starlin Castro, who had three hits and two RBIs to end a 2-for 21 slide, got the Cubs on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI triple.The Cubs, who have lost 24 of their past 31, tied it in the second as Pedroia misplayed Castro’s popup with two outs in the third, allowing a hustling Barney to score all the way from first base as the play was ruled a double.The Red Sox added a run in the eighth on Saltalamacchia’s RBI grounder.

NOTES—Red Sox 1B Adrian Gonzalez was out of the starting lineup for the first time this season. He struck out as a pinch-hitter the ninth. … Cubs manager Dale Sveum said the team will likely activate Geovany Soto from the 15-day DL on Monday before the series opener against the White Sox. …Koyie Hill was released by the Cubs on Sunday after declining an assignment to Triple-A Iowa after clearing waivers. …Matt Garza (2-5, 4.04 ERA) will pitch Monday for the Cubs.

LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Dodgers won a game in which Andre Ethier struck out his first three times up and made up for it with three Gold Glove-caliber catches in right field. They saw a sacrifice fly taken away on an appeal play, then tied the score in the ninth with one that counted — against a closer who hadn’t blown a save all season.And to top it off, Dee Gordon hit a game-ending single in the 10th after failing to bunt a runner over in a key situation the previous inning. It all added up to a 2-1 victory against the White Sox on Sunday in the rubber game of an interleague series between division leaders.

“We just grinded it out today and were able to come through in the end,” Tony Gwynn Jr. said. “It was a bunch of guys who did it. It was good to see Dee come up big like that after he missed the bunt. He was pretty down after that.”

Gwynn lined a one-out triple under the glove of a diving Jordan Danks as he charged the ball in left field. Matt Treanor followed with a hard grounder to second baseman Gordon Beckham with the infield in, forcing Gwynn to stay put. Bobby Abreu was intentionally walked and Gordon lined a single to left against Matt Thornton (2-5), whose wild pitch in the eighth inning of Friday’s series opener let in the decisive run.Ronald Belisario (3-0) pitched two hitless innings for the victory.Dodgers left-hander Chris Capuano yielded a run and eight hits over eight innings and had a season-high 12 strikeouts, after going 5-0 with a 1.66 ERA in his six previous home starts with Los Angeles.Jose Quintana scattered five hits over eight scoreless innings, striking out six and walking none in his seventh big league start. The 23-year-old left-hander was removed by Robin Ventura with a 1-0 lead after only 77 pitches. Addison Reed absorbed his first blown save in nine chances this season.

“This is what Reed does,” Ventura said in defense of his decision. “And we have a lot more games to go, even with Q. He pitched great, but right there I wanted to go to the closer.”

Singles by Abreu and Elian Herrera put runners at the corners with one out, and Abreu scored on Juan Rivera’s sac fly to right.

“I made a couple of bad pitches and they hit them,” Reed said. “The pitch to Abreu was supposed to be a high fastball out of the zone, but I didn’t get it high enough and it got a little too much of the zone. Anytime you lose a game it stinks, especially when the starting pitcher throws as well as Quintana did.”

Treanor led off the sixth with a bunt single and was at third base when Herrera hit what appeared to be a tying sacrifice fly. But Treanor was called out to end the inning after umpire Jerry Meals ruled that he left the bag too soon.

“That’s what he saw,” Treanor said. “You can’t be 100 percent right all the time, but it fired me up because that would have tied the game — and you don’t know how many you’re going to score. Nothing against Jerry, but I thought it was not the right call.”

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly got into a heated and animated argument with Meals, resulting in his fourth ejection of the season and seventh in less than 1½ years on the job.

It didn’t end there, as Mattingly stood nose-to-nose with Meals for more than a minute before and after third base ump and crew chief Gary Darling joined the fray. When he was done with Meals, Mattingly got into Darling’s face on his way back to the plate and waved his arms up and down like a bird in flight before finally retreating to the clubhouse.

“I didn’t even realize I was that fired up. I was just kind of frustrated over that call,” Mattingly said. “I knew that he missed it. The video doesn’t lie. It was a situation where, if you’re not 100 percent sure, how can you overturn a run? He kept telling me he got it 100 percent right. That’s about the third time I’ve heard that this year.”

Capuano matched zeros with Quintana until the sixth, when Brent Lillibridge led off with a single and continued to second on Herrera’s error in left field. Lillibridge scored from third on Dayan Viciedo’s single after slugger Adam Dunn struck out for the third straight time.Viciedo was robbed of a hit in the fourth when Ethier made a diving grab in short right-center. Two innings later, the Gold Glove winner made a sliding catch of Alex Rios’ Texas Leaguer to end the sixth. Ethier stole the show in the eighth when he robbed Lillibridge of extra bases with a leaping grab of his hard-hit ball at the top of the fence.

“It’s not too often that you can get that many balls in a game that you have a chance to make a play like that on. But I had to contribute somehow today,” said Ethier, who hasn’t committed an error since July 9, 2010. “One thing you learn over time is that you have to play both sides of the ball and keep playing the game hard.”

NOTES—A ceremonial first pitch was thrown by U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Christopher Farias, who was thrown for a loop when he realized the catcher was his father, Lawrence — dressed in a Dodgers uniform and mask when he sprung the surprise….Dunn, who leads the majors with 23 home runs, also has struck out a major league-leading 104 times.

LOS ANGELES—The White Sox just kept pecking away at Chad Billingsley until they scraped across enough runs to give Philip Humber an early cushion to work with. He gave it all back before his teammates pushed across one more run and closed it out with a solid effort by their bullpen.Alexei Ramirez opened the scoring with a two-run single and scored the go-ahead run for the White Sox, who ended a three-game skid with a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.

“I don’t think any of us have seen him throw a pitch all year since spring training, so I don’t think we went into the game knowing anything in particular,” Paul Konerko said of Billingsley. “He throws a lot of strikes, and he’s got a sinker that cuts. But we just put a couple of good swings on some balls early, and a couple more just fell in that weren’t hit hard. So that always helps. But it’s not like we killed him. We were just nickle-and-diming him.”

Humber (3-4) threw 99 pitches over five laborious innings, but got the victory after allowing four runs and nine hits. The right-hander, one of 22 pitchers to throw a perfect game in the majors and the only one to do it after undergoing Tommy John surgery, is 2-4 with a 7.47 ERA in 10 starts since his gem on April 21 at Seattle.Addison Reed, the sixth Sox pitcher, posted his eighth save in as many chances with a perfect ninth to help end a three-game skid by the AL Central leaders.Billingsley (4-5) was charged with five runs and eight hits in six innings before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter. The right-hander was coming off consecutive road victories against Philadelphia and Seattle in which he allowed a run over seven innings each time. Before that, he went a career-worst nine straight starts without a win, including five no-decisions.After blowing a four-run lead, the White Sox went back in front in the fourth with an unearned run. Ramirez was plunked on the left elbow after he squared around to bunt, then stole second and advanced when second baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. misplayed Orlando Hudson’s grounder for an error. Ramirez scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Alejandro De Aza.The Dodgers, whose 41-25 record is still the best in baseball, threatened in the bottom of the fourth after Billingsley led off with his second single of the game – and Los Angeles’ final hit.Humber walked NL RBI leader Andre Ethier with two outs, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch that sailed over Hairston’s head as catcher A.J. Pierzynski set up his target on the outside corner. But shortstop Ramirez came to Humber’s rescue with a diving catch in front of second base on a popup that Hairston hit off the fists.The White Sox made the most of their opportunity in the second, taking a 3-0 lead on a two-run single by Ramirez and a run-scoring single down the right field line by Humber – his first major league hit.Alex Rios made it 4-0 in the third with a two-out RBI triple that was misjudged at the warning track by Elian Herrera, who was starting in center field for only the fifth time since making his major league debut on May 15.But the Dodgers tied it with four runs in the bottom half, getting a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Hairston and two-out RBI singles by Bobby Abreu, A.J. Ellis and James Loney. In Friday night’s series-opening 7-6 victory, the Dodgers overcame a 5-1 deficit with a five-run sixth.

NOTES—Tommy Lasorda returned to Dodger Stadium for the first time since his mild heart attack on June 4 in New York, where he was representing the club at the free agent draft. It was the second such episode for the 84-year-old Lasorda, whose first one in 1996 forced him to give up managing the Dodgers in his 20th season at the helm. Lasorda went on to pilot Team USA to an Olympic Gold Medal at Sydney, Australia in 2000, and was back in a Dodger uniform on Sept. 22 when Mattingly invited him to spend the game in the dugout as one of his coaches.

ROSEMONT—A defensive awakening by the Rush (8-5) vaulted them to a 62-27 victory over the Georgia Force (7-7) Saturday night at Allstate Arena in front of 6,202 fans. The win keeps the Rush right in the thick of the National Conference playoff race as they moved to within ahalf game of the fourth and final playoff spot.

“I like where our team is headed. I like what they’re doing right now. They’re having player meetings to talk about getting better in practice. They’re working hard.. they’re picking each other up. It’s about character and the kind of guys we have in the locker room and those guys are doing well,” began Head Coach Bob McMillen about the ability for the team to rally together after a tough defeat last week.

A sack by Georgia’s Jerry Turner on the opening possession only delayed the inevitable as Russ Michna (17-26, 217 yards, 6 TD) found Reggie Gray for a 24-yard touchdown on the game’s opening possession. The defense used the early 7-0 lead to spark pressure in every gap on the Force offensive line. Defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald and nose tackle Darrell Campbell harassed Force QB R.J. Archer into a turnover on downs on Georgia’s first offensive series when he hurried a pass that was dropped WR Jake Allen.The early defensive stop poured fuel on the fire for the quick strike Rush offense. Missing Gray (7 catches, 91 yards, 3 TD) by inches for a touchdown on the first play of the second drive, Michna redeemed himself four plays later tofind Gray for the 9-yard touchdown pass and catch.Other than a 13-yard touchdown pass thrown by Georgia’s Archer to Larry Shipp (10 catches, 102 yards, 1 TD), the Force were unable to place additional points on the board in the first half. Archer’s six incompletions in the first quarter matched the incompletions he threw for the entire Week 6 match up between the Rush and Force earlier this season.The inconsistency from Archer did not transfer to the left arm of Michna. He targeted Terrance Turner on four straight passing plays during the third offensive possession to set up a quick screen touchdown toss to Gray, his third and final touchdown catch of the night.The 21-7 score received another shot in the arm when Rush newcomer Jorrick Calvin, assigned to the Rush roster two days prior, picked off Archer for his fifth interception on the year, first for the Rush.The interception by Calvin (10 tackles, 2 interceptions on the night) led to the longest drive of the night for the Rush, both in terms of yards (45) and minutes (4:00). The methodical nine play drive, which perfectly clocked the final minute of the second quarter, was capped off with a one step drop by Michna who tossed the ball to Jared Perry allowing him to dart along the side board to give the Rush a 28-7 halftime lead.

A shot of adrenaline gave the Force 14 unanswered points to begin the second half. C.J. Johnson took the opening third quarter kickoff 53 yards for a touchdown. Chicago’s only turnover of the night happened on the ensuing possession when Georgia’s Matt Marcorelle strip sacked Russ Michna. The Force zeroed in on the opportunity to close the game to within seven on an Archer touchdown pass and catch to Shay Hodge (4 catches, 28 yards, 1 TD). However, Hodge’s touchdown catch at the 12:46 mark of the third quarter was Georgia’s last score until a four-yard touchdown catch by Jake Allen broke a 25-minute scoring drought.Reason for the scoring troubles can be attributed to a Rush defense that was firing on all cylinders. Calvin grabbed his second interception of the game late in the third quarter as he took advantage of an Archer touch pass that lost steam on way to Larry Shipp.Rush jack linebacker Kelvin Morris had the highlight of the game in the fourth quarter by tipping his 5th interception of the season into his hands and thundering 32-yards down the right sideline for his fourth defensive touchdown of the year. With the third turnover of the night by the Force, any air remaining in the sails of the Force left as Head Coach Dean Cokinos replaced Archer with Kevin Eakin for an offensive series.

As always, the game couldn’t be complete without Rush backup quarterback Luke Drone finding the end zone for his 11th rushing touchdown of the year. Fullback J.J. Payne backed him up with a nine-yard touchdown run of his own a possession later to place the exclamation point on the 62-point output.

“We’ve kind of had an interesting year here,” discussed Michna about the jekyll and hyde nature of playing home versus away, “Where we’ve had a lot of, you know, turnover on the (defensive side) of the ball and we’ve been pretty stable on the (offensive), so if we can get that thing right in the same direction and get them playing well, get us playing well and hopefully we can make a little run here.”

The Rush improved to 8-5 on the season and kept themselves within 2 games of division leading San Antonio (10-3)and they head out on the road next week trying for their first win away from Allstate since March 31st against Kansas City (2-10).

National Guard MVP – CHI QB Russ Michna

Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game – CHI WR Reggie Gray

Riddell Defensive Player of the Game – CHI DB Jorrick Calvin

Cutters Catch of the Week – CHI JLB Kelvin Morris interception returned for TD

AFL Playmaker of the Game – CHI DB Jorrick Calvin

Spalding Highlight of the Game – GEO KR C.J. Johnson’s 53-yard kickoff return for TD

JLS Ironman of the Game – CHI JLB Kelvin Morris

Jarrod Saltalamacchia was struggling, so Bobby Valentine did something drastic.Bench him? Nope.Instead, he started him in the cleanup spot for the first time in his career, and for one night, at least, it worked.Saltalamacchia homered to back a strong start by Jon Lester, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Cubs 4-3 on Saturday.

“Sometimes crazy times ask for crazy measures,” Valentine said. And the way he saw it, batting Saltalamacchia in the fourth slot was one.

He came into the game mired in an 0-for-17 slide but broke out of it with two hits, including a two-run drive in the fourth, and Boston came out on top after dropping eight of 11.Scott Podsednik and Mike Aviles had two hits apiece, and Podsednik and Will Middlebrooks each drove in a run.Lester (4-4) and the Red Sox were leading 4-0 when the Cubs rallied in the seventh.Jeff Baker led off with a bloop double and Welington Castillo walked with one out. Then Luis Valbuena belted a three-run homer for his first hit with the Cubs. Lester struck out David DeJesus before Scott Atchison retired Reed Johnson on a grounder to end the inning. Vicente Padilla worked the eighth and Alfredo Aceves finished for his 16th save in 19 chances.Pinch-hitter Steve Clevenger started the Cubs ninth with a single, but Aceves struck out Bryan LaHair and got Castillo to bounce into a game-ending double play.Lester gave the Red Sox just what they needed on the same day Josh Beckett went on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation, the latest in a long line of injuries for Boston.The veteran allowed seven hits, struck out eight and walked one against a team that came in with a .222 average against left-handers, third lowest in the National League.Jeff Samardzija (5-5) struck out six in 5 1/3 innings for the Cubs after getting roughed up in a loss to Minnesota in his previous start. He was charged with three runs and four hits.Samardzija was lifted after he issued consecutive walks to David Ortiz and Saltalamacchia. Randy Wells came in, and Middlebrooks drove in Ortiz with a single.Samardzija’s only other glitch was the drive to right by Saltalamacchia on a 1-2 splitter.

“It felt good,” Saltalamacchia said. “I talked to [Valentine] as I was walking out [Friday] night and that’s exactly what he said. He said `They’re gonna start falling because you’ve been swinging the bat well.”‘

The Cubs threatened with two out in the sixth, but a breakdown by Alfonso Soriano helped end it.With runners on first and second, Middlebrooks dropped his hard liner to third. Soriano never ran, though, and was thrown out at first.A crowd that had seen lapses from him before let him have it on the way to the dugout and when he trotted back out to left field. There were more loud boos when he struck out in the eighth.But the way Soriano sees it, he didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. He said the boos were unfair and there really wasn’t much he could do on that play.

“I think that they don’t understand the game,” Soriano said. “It’s a line drive, nothing you can do about it. If it’s a ground ball and I don’t run, they can do whatever they want. But a hard line drive right at the glove? I don’t know what they want.”

While the fans made their feelings clear, so did the Cubs. Put simply, they had Soriano’s back.

“It’s one of those things where 100 percent every player in the history of baseball would do the same thing,” manager Dale Sveum said. “I did it a lot, a lot, of times.”

Soriano is a lightning rod for fans, though — fair or not.

“Sori takes a lot of heat for a lot of things,” Samardzija said. “Obviously, it is what it is. There’s not one guy in that locker room that has anything bad to say about him.”

NOTES—With Beckett going on the DL, Boston recalled right-handed reliever Clayton Mortensen from Triple-A Pawtucket. Beckett was scheduled to start Sunday. Instead, LHP Franklin Morales (0-1 with a 3.04 ERA in 22 relief appearances) will pitch in his place, with Paul Maholm starting for the Cubs…..OF Carl Crawford (sprained ulnar collateral ligament in left elbow) “threw the ball really well” from 110 feet, Valentine said. He also took batting practice for the second consecutive day…..Red Sox RHP Aaron Cook (left knee laceration) will make his first rehab start on Monday with Triple-A Pawtucket and is scheduled to throw 50-75 pitches…..Valbuena was promoted from Triple-A Iowa on Thursday…..Actor Vince Vaughn threw out the first pitch and led the seventh-inning rendition of Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

LOS ANGELES—The anticipated duel between Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale never materialized. Both aces folded midway through a seesaw game that went to the Los Angeles Dodgers because their relievers performed a little bit better than their counterparts on the White Sox.James Loney scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Matt Thornton in the eighth inning, and the Dodgers beat the White Sox 7-6 on Friday night in the opener of an interleague series between division leaders.Alex Rios hit his second homer of the game in the top half of the eighth, but the Dodgers went in front again in the bottom half.Loney started the winning rally with a one-out single against Thornton (2-4). Dee Gordon walked and Elian Herrera grounded into a fielder’s choice, putting runners at the corners. Bobby Abreu batted for Ronald Belisario (2-0) and Gordon took off for second as Thornton’s first pitch to Abreu bounced past A.J. Pierzynski.

“We weren’t holding the guy on, so there was no need to rush the pitch,” Pierzynski said. “He just made a bad pitch. It happens.”

Belisario pitched 1 1/3 innings for the victory and Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 14 chances.Kershaw was charged with five runs — four earned — and eight hits over six innings with seven strikeouts.

“Baseball goes in cycles and it has its ups and downs,” Kershaw said. “I mean, this game’s not easy. Just because you had a couple of good starts, this game will continue to humble you. So you’ve just got to keep battling and competing.They have some big-name guys over there. The lack of familiarity didn’t really bother me too much, but it’s definitely different that facing the same teams in the NL West over and over again. That’s for sure.”

Sale, trying to win his sixth straight start, took an AL-leading 2.05 ERA into his marquee matchup against Kershaw, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. But Chicago’s 23-year-old left-hander didn’t get out of the sixth inning as the Dodgers rallied against Sale and Jesse Crain for five runs, giving them a 6-5 lead.

“Usually when we’ve had Sale on the mound, we’re in pretty good shape. But they battled and just beat us,” slugger Adam Dunn said.

Ivan De Jesus hit for Kershaw during the big rally and singled home a run to trim Chicago’s lead to 5-3 after an RBI double by Juan Uribe. Gordon came up after De Jesus and bunted a line drive that tipped off the glove of first baseman Paul Konerko. But second baseman Gordon Beckham, heading toward first to cover on the botched sacrifice, was right there to catch it.At that point, rookie manager Robin Ventura replaced Sale with Crain, who gave up a tying two-run double by Herrera and an RBI single by Juan Rivera that gave the Dodgers their first lead. But Rios erased that advantage when he belted a leadoff drive in the eighth.Sale was charged with five runs, seven hits and a season-high four walks in 5 2/3 innings after allowing no more than three runs in any of his 11 previous major league starts.

“You feel good with him on the mound and a 5-1 lead in the sixth inning with the way he’s been throwing, but tonight he just didn’t get it done,” Pierzynski said. “He walked too many guys. He walked Jerry Hairston three times, he walked Dee Gordon twice, and a couple other guys. That just can’t happen. We were behind in the count on every guy.”

Dunn gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead in the first, driving an 0-2 pitch to right for his major league-leading 23rd homer and fourth of his career against Kershaw. The 12-year veteran has connected in each of his last five starts.

“Against a guy like Kershaw, if you can get early runs it’s great,” Dunn said. “He’s obviously one of the best in the game, if not the best, so you try to be aggressive and try to get something you can hit because he’s got so many good pitches. I fell behind 0-2, so I was just trying to put the ball in play and ran into one.”

The Dodgers also scored in the first when Gordon walked and came all the way around on Herrera’s double. Herrera advanced on Pierzynski’s sixth passed ball of the season, but was stranded when A.J. Ellis grounded out.The third inning began a string of three consecutive innings in which the White Sox scored one run. Konerko hit an RBI single, Alexei Ramirez scored on a throwing error by Gordon after he charged Orlando Hudson’s infield hit to shortstop, and Rios added his seventh homer to make it 5-2.

NOTES—Dunn has homered seven times in 74 at-at-bats against lefties, compared to none last season in 94 at-bats….Sale, who spent his two previous big league seasons as a reliever, batted in a regular-season game for the first time and had two strikeouts along with a sacrifice bunt….This is the sixth interleague series between the Dodgers and White Sox, who have shared the Camelback Ranch spring training facility at in Glendale, Ariz., since 2009…..   Kershaw’s only other regular-season start against the White Sox was on June 26, 2008, when he pitched four innings in a 2-0 loss to John Danks at Dodger Stadium.

Ryan Dempster realizes his days with the Cubs could be winding down, particularly if he keeps this up. He’s dominating, and a contender just might want him.Dempster pitched four-hit ball over seven innings, and the Cubs hung on to beat team president Theo Epstein’s former club, topping the struggling Boston Red Sox 3-0 on Friday.

“I’m not naive,” Dempster said. “I’m not oblivious to what’s going on.”

The Cubs are in the early stages of their rebuilding process, and he could help a team eyeing the playoffs.In his 15th season in the majors and ninth with the Cubs, Dempster has the right to veto any trade. He also has an expiring contract, and he’s pitching as well as ever.

“If I focus on that, I wouldn’t be doing a very good job as a teammate, and I wouldn’t be doing a very good job for myself if I wasn’t focusing on what I need to do,” Dempster said.

He sure was locked in on Friday, yet the Cubs had to hang on in the ninth.The Red Sox loaded the bases against Carlos Marmol, but he got out of it when Dustin Pedroia forced the runner at third to end the game. That gave Marmol three saves in five chances and the Cubs a dramatic win after they cruised through the first eight innings.Dempster (3-3) stretched his scoreless innings streak to 22 and lowered his ERA to 2.11 with another dominant performance.He was at it again after shutting down Milwaukee and Minnesota. This time, the right-hander struck out three and walked two while winning his third straight start after going 18 in a row without a victory.Dempster also helped himself at the plate with two hits. He won a $500 bet with Tony Campana when he came through with his second career triple past a diving right fielder Adrian Gonzalez and scored in the second to make it 3-0 after Steve Clevenger hit a two-run, bases-loaded double off Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2) in the first.

The bet with Campana? Who would get a triple first this season.

“I thought it was the easiest bet I ever made,” said Campana, the Cubs’ fastest runner and the majors’ leader in steals with 23.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, lost for the eighth time in 11 games.

“Everyone’s trying,” Pedroia said. “We’re not playing good. Today, we didn’t play good.”

In his second start after Tommy John elbow surgery, Matsuzaka gave up three runs and four hits in six innings before being lifted for a pinch hitter. He walked three — all in the first — but eventually found his rhythm.The Red Sox simply didn’t give him much support.They had runners on second and third against Dempster with two out in the seventh, but Pedroia lined to right to end the threat, slamming his helmet in disgust.Things got tense in the ninth with Marmol on the mound.Third baseman Luis Valbuena made a diving stop on Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s hard smash to rob him of a hit leading off. But after Ryan Sweeney singled, he misplayed Mike Aviles’ grounder, putting runners on first and second.Marmol, back in the closer’s job after losing it, then struck out pinch hitter Daniel Nava but walked Scott Podsednik to load the bases, drawing a visit from manager Dale Sveum. He fell behind 2-0 to Pedroia before getting him to bounce to third on a 2-2 pitch to end the game, giving Marmol his first save since May 2 against Cincinnati.

“I feel great up there now,” Marmol said. “I feel confidence. I think I’m going to keep my job. I’m going to continue to work hard.”

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine was confident, too – that Pedroia would come through.

“I thought Dustin was gonna get him,” Valentine said. “I’ll take my chances any time, even though you’d rather not be down three in the ninth any time, but that’s the guy to break him, the ball just hit off the end of the bat.”

Much of the focus before the game centered on Epstein. After all, the Cubs were meeting the Red Sox for the first time since he became Chicago’s president of baseball operations in the offseason.The Cubs brought him in hoping he could lead them to their first championship since 1908, after he helped build two title winners and end a long drought in Boston as the Red Sox’s general manager.Clearly, he’s facing a difficult task.The Cubs have the majors’ worst record. The Red Sox have had their issues, too, and the losses are adding up.

NOTES—Red Sox RHP Josh Beckett will miss Sunday’s start because of inflammation in his right shoulder, Valentine said. Lefty Franklin Morales will start in Beckett’s place…..Sveum said he’ll probably stick with Valbuena, who was promoted from Triple-A Thursday with Ian Stewart (left wrist) going on the 15-day DL. “He was swinging the bat real well down there, so you try to keep that left-handed bat in the lineup,” Sveum said…..Jeff Samardzija starts Saturday with Jon Lester going for Boston.

ST. LOUIS—David Freese had a good session during batting practice before Thursday night’s game. The work paid off when it counted. Freese homered, doubled and drove in three runs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the White Sox.

“I had the best BP I’ve had in a while,” Freese said. “It’s about trying not to do too much. Sometimes you get in the box and you want to be Superman and that isn’t going to help you out. You stay with your plan and try to execute.”

Freese has seven hits in his last four games. Adam Dunn tied Texas’ Josh Hamilton for the major league lead with his 22nd homer, a three-run shot in the sixth that pulled the White Sox to 5-3.Matt Adams had a two-run single for St. Louis, which had scored one run in three straight games coming in and no more than two in each of the last five.Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook (5-6) retired the first 12 batters on 41 pitches before giving up a leadoff single in the fifth inning to Paul Konerko, who leads the American League with a .364 average. Westbrook threw only 67 pitches in six innings, allowing five hits and three runs. The win snapped a slump for Westbrook, who had gone 0-4 with a 7.55 ERA in his previous six outings since winning May 8 at Arizona. Westbrook also broke his skid against the Cubs. He was 0-5 with a 5.87 ERA in his previous eight starts against the White Sox since beating them Aug. 7, 2007, when he was with Cleveland. He had not faced the Cubs since 2010.

“It’s always my game plan to keep the ball down,” said Westbrook, who got nine groundball outs in the first four innings. “I did that early tonight. The bullpen came in and did a good job. The offense showed up tonight. Adams got a huge hit. It was a good win for us.”

Jason Motte pitched the ninth for his 13th save. White Sox starter Gavin Floyd (4-7) is 1-4 with a 10.38 ERA in his last six starts. Floyd, who is 0-5 in his last eight interleague starts, allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings, hiking his ERA to 5.63.

“I’m just going to go out there and keep on fighting, keep on battling cause I know this is going to turn around,” Floyd said.

Freese gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with a double in the second inning. He made it 3-0 with a two-out, two-run homer to center field in the third.

“He had a good night for us – even his outs were hard,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “He had the right approach. You could tell in batting practice that he found something today. He translated that into the game. This is where he needs to be.”

After striking out twice, Adams drove in two runs when he singled on a full-count pitch with the bases loaded. That gave St. Louis a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning.

“I was just pressing a lot the first two, trying to do too much instead of just relaxing,” Adams said. “I just told myself to relax and see the ball the best I can. I took the first two couple pitches that third at-bat and finally got locked in. It felt good off the bat. But the center fielder [Alejandro De Aza] is fast and I thought maybe he would catch it but I saw it drop and it felt good.”

In the sixth, with two on and two outs, Dunn slammed the first pitch from Westbrook over the center field fence. Dunn, who has 50 RBI, was back in the starting lineup after being scratched Wednesday because of a mild ankle sprain. He has four home runs and 11 RBI in his last six games. St. Louis shortstop Rafael Furcal snapped an 0-for-23 skid with a single in the eighth. The Sox have lost three consecutive series.

“You want to win games and all that, but all you can ask is the way they’re playing, and they’re playing hard,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “You’re not going to win every game. You’re not going to win every series.”

NOTES—Alex Rios was ejected in the dugout in the ninth inning after flying out to center. He had a checked swing reversed to a strike in his at-bat by first base umpire Jeff Nelson. Ventura said about Nelson: “He’s got good eyes and ears.” … St. Louis RF Carlos Beltran did not play because of a stomach virus. After the game, Beltran said he “was feeling much better and would play tomorrow night.” … Michael Wacha, the Cardinals top pick in this year’s draft, signed his contract Thursday and visited Busch Stadium with his parents. Wacha, 20, recently completed his junior year at Texas A&M. … Chicago fell to 21-6 in its last 27 interleague road games. … the White Sox lost their first interleague road series after winning their last 11 away from home.

Justin Verlander was running in the outfield Thursday when he heard a round of cheers from the sizeable contingent of Detroit Tigers fans that packed Wrigley Field for the series finale against the Cubs. “I got chills,” Verlander said. He returned the favor during an important 5-3 victory, pitching eight solid innings and helping himself with a pair of sacrifices as Detroit capped an encouraging 4-2 interleague road trip through Cincinnati and here in Chicago.While Verlander shut down the Cubs in another impressive performance, Austin Jackson hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh and a two-run homer in the ninth to help the Tigers to their fourth victory in five games.

“We’ve got to start winning two out of three,” manager Jim Leyland said. “That’s how you crawl back into the thing.”

The combination of Verlander and a picturesque day on the North Side led to a season-high crowd of 42,292 that ran the total for the series to 124,782, setting a Wrigley Field record for a midweek three-game set. Tigers fans made up a good amount of that total, and they cheered everything Verlander did in the finale.

“It’s a lot more fun when you hear all the fans chanting ‘Let’s go Tigers’ on the road,” Jackson said.

The Cubs scored two runs in the second on Darwin Barney’s double and Luis Valbuena’s groundout, but that was it against the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. Verlander, who also won the MVP award for his dominant 2011 season, retired 10 in a row and 16 of 17 batters following Barney’s one-out hit in the second. Pitcher Travis Wood was the only one to reach during that string, but he was cut down trying to stretch his two-out liner in the fifth into a double.

“After the second I started getting my rhythm a little bit,” Verlander said. “I started throwing my breaking ball for strikes. Keeping guys off balance and just making better pitches.”

Verlander (6-4) yielded five hits, struck out eight and walked none in his first victory since he flirted with a no-hitter while allowing just one hit in a 6-0 victory against Pittsburgh on May 18. The ace right-hander was 0-3 with a 4.10 ERA in his previous four starts.

“He kind of stays on you the whole time,” Cubs center fielder Tony Campana said. “He mixes his pitches so well and that’s why he’s so good.”

Campana doubled and scored in the ninth before Jose Valverde finished for his 13th save in 16 chances. Jackson also hit a leadoff double in the first and scored on Prince Fielder’s double. He went 3 for 4 and is batting .359 (23 for 64) in his last 17 games. Wood (0-3) allowed three runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. The left-hander struck out three, walked two and hit two batters.

“It was another battle for me out there today,” he said. “I found a lot of trouble but I was able to keep it close and pitch out of a lot of jams. A guy like Verlander is a great pitcher even when he doesn’t have his `A’ game. We battled but just came up short.”

Verlander went 0 for 1 to leave him hitless in 22 career at-bats, but that didn’t diminish his day at the plate. He moved Ryan Raburn to second with a perfect sacrifice in the seventh and Jackson followed with a base hit to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

NOTES—Raburn went 2 for 3 after he was recalled from Triple-A Toledo before the game when the Tigers placed LHP Drew Smyly (blister) on the 15-day disabled list…..Valbuena was promoted from Triple-A Iowa earlier in the day, and went 0 for 3. The Cubs also put 3B Ian Stewart (sore left wrist) on the DL, activated C Welington Castillo from the injured list and designated C Koyie Hill for assignment…..Detroit RHP Doug Fister will come off the DL to start Saturday’s home game against Colorado. He had been sidelined with a left side strain. The Tigers will make a corresponding roster move before the game…..Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo was on the field before the game…..The Cubs host the Boston Red Sox for a three-game series beginning on Friday afternoon. RHP Ryan Dempster (2-3, 2.31 ERA) faces Red Sox RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-1, 7.20 ERA) in the opener.

Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera are two of the majors’ most feared sluggers. When Jhonny Peralta, Brennan Boesch and Delmon Young start coming up with big hits, the Detroit Tigers are one tough team to stop. Just ask the Cubs. Peralta had three hits and two RBI one night after he made two costly throwing errors, and the Tigers rallied to beat the Cubs 8-4 on Wednesday.

“We bounced back,” manager Jim Leyland said. “We had some big hits, timely hits, bullpen did a great job, and a good win for us.”

Boesch had four hits, including a solo homer, and made a diving catch in right field as the Tigers improved to 8-1 in their last nine games against the Cubs. The one loss during that stretch occurred in the series opener Tuesday night, when Peralta made two errant throws from shortstop in the eighth inning that led to the decisive run for the Cubs in a 4-3 victory. But Peralta responded in a big way in the middle game of the series, and the Tigers will send Justin Verlander to the mound Thursday afternoon with a chance at a heartening 4-2 interleague road trip for a club that has underachieved so far this year.

“Tomorrow’s a big game for us,” Leyland said, “because you go to Cincinnati and Chicago and you’ve got a chance to win both series. That’s pretty good. You’ve got to try to win each series. If you can do that, then you put yourself back in decent shape.”

With one out and runners on the corners in the sixth, Peralta hit a drive to center for a two-run double that tied it at 4. He advanced on Gerald Laird’s bunt single against Matt Garza and scored on Ramon Santiago’s comebacker to put Detroit in front. Boesch added his seventh homer in the seventh and an RBI single in the eighth, delighting the sizeable portion of Tigers fans among the season-high crowd of 41,326 at Wrigley Field.

“I think that’s a tribute to Detroit fans,” Boesch said. “The road fans are my favorite fans and most of the players’ favorite fans because they come and they bring the noise, bring the passion. They’re die-hard Tigers fans.”

Alfonso Soriano, Darwin Barney and Steve Clevenger had two hits apiece for the Cubs, who had won four straight home games. Joe Mather, inserted into the lineup when third baseman Ian Stewart was scratched with a sore left wrist, contributed an RBI single but also made an error that fueled Detroit’s four-run rally in the sixth. Garza (2-5) allowed five runs, three earned, and seven hits in six innings. The right-hander is 0-4 with a 5.26 ERA in his last seven starts.

“It was unfortunate more than anything,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “It wasn’t like they were beating him up or hitting balls real hard, besides the ball Peralta hit – then all of a sudden four runs scored.”

Soriano and Bryan LaHair hit consecutive run-scoring doubles to make it 4-1 in the fifth, but the Tigers eventually solved Garza on the way to their third victory in the last four games. Boesch sparked the big sixth inning with a leadoff single. Cabrera then hit a grounder to Mather, who kicked it toward second for an error. That miscue opened the door for Tigers, who got a one-out RBI single from Young before Peralta came up with his clutch hit.

“I just missed it,” Mather said. “It was the turning point in the game. Garza got out of trouble right there. He was in a little bit of trouble and he got out of it. I feel bad that that’s what kind of started it all.”

Rick Porcello (4-4) gave up nine hits in five innings, but managed to earn his first victory since May 6 against the White Sox. The right-hander was 0-2 with a 5.17 ERA in his previous six starts. The Cubs and Tigers exchanged two fielding gems in the seventh. Shortstop Starlin Castro made a diving stop on Cabrera’s smash in the top half of the inning, but Boesch robbed David DeJesus of a hit in the bottom half. Detroit center fielder Austin Jackson added a great catch against the wall in center to end the game.

NOTES—Stewart is going to visit another doctor on Thursday, and Sveum said he was headed for the disabled list. Sveum said he wasn’t sure yet which player was coming up from the minors. … Tigers RHP Doug Fister (strained left side) threw a side session and “felt really good,” according to Leyland. … Tigers OF Andy Dirks (right Achilles tendinitis) ran Tuesday, but Leyland said it didn’t go well. “Dirks isn’t ready. I don’t know when we’ll get Dirks back,” he said. … Verlander (5-4, 2.69 ERA) will face LHP Travis Wood (0-2, 4.71 ERA) in the series finale. Verlander pitched 5 2-3 innings of one-run ball in his only start at Wrigley Field, a 9-3 victory on June 17, 2006. He is hitless in 21 career at-bats with 13 strikeouts. Wood is searching for his first win since he recorded two outs for Cincinnati at Pittsburgh on Aug. 19