Red Sox beat White Sox 12-8 as Lowell and Drew homer, Contreras commits costly error

Contreras error, Boston offense spark Red Sox win

BOSTON — Jose Contreras’ two-out error on a slow roller led to six runs in the third inning and the Boston Red Sox extended their offensive surge with a 12-8 win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.

Boston scored at least 11 runs for the third time in four games as Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew homered in the first meeting of the year between the teams, the latest they’ve ever faced each other for the first time.

Ramon Ramirez (7-3) pitched 1 2-3 innings for the win after starter Clay Buchholz was lifted with two outs in the fifth following Paul Konerko’s three-run homer that made it 9-7.

Contreras (5-12) allowed only one earned run but contributed greatly to all seven he allowed in 2 2-3 innings.

The bottom of the third started normally with a single by Alex Gonzalez, a flyout by Jacoby Ellsbury and a popout by Dustin Pedroia.

Then Contreras lost control and squandered Chicago’s 4-1 lead.

He walked Victor Martinez and hit Kevin Youkilis with a pitch, loading the bases. David Ortiz grounded the ball down the first-base line and Contreras hurried over to field it before it went foul. He reached down as the ball was about three-quarters of the way to the base but failed to pick it up and the slow-footed Ortiz trotted past him as Gonzalez scored.

That kept the rally alive and Boston scored five more runs in the inning.

They came in on a bases-loaded walk to Jason Bay, a wild pitch and a three-run homer by Lowell, his 16th of the season, that made it 7-4 and chased Contreras.

The Red Sox added two runs in the fourth on Pedroia’s sacrifice fly and Youkilis’ RBI single.

Konerko’s homer cut the lead to two runs in the fifth. Then the White Sox loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh on two walks and a hit batsman. But Carlos Quentin flied out.

Boston made it 12-7 in the bottom of the seventh, scoring on Drew’s 16th homer, Ellsbury’s triple and Pedroia’s double.

The Red Sox had two homers one day after their team record streak of eight multihomer games was broken in an 8-4 loss to the New York Yankees. In the first two games of that series, the Yankees won 20-11 before the Red Sox came back for a 14-1 victory.

The White Sox had taken a 2-0 lead in the second on A.J. Pierzynski’s RBI single and Alexei Ramirez’s sacrifice fly. Boston scored a run in the bottom of the inning when Drew tried to steal second and Bay scored from third before Drew was tagged for the final out.

Gordon Beckham hit a two-run homer for Chicago in the fourth, his eighth.

NOTES: The Red Sox have 65 runs in their last seven games. … Boston RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched three shutout innings in a rehab start for the Gulf Coast League Red Sox in Fort Myers, Fla. He struck out four and allowed no hits and one walk. His next start is set for Saturday for Double-A Portland at Manchester. … Jermaine Dye went 0 for 4 and is batting . 180 since the All-Star break. … Lowell has 23 RBIs in 21 games.