Jon Lester allowed two hits over seven masterful innings and Jason Varitek hit a pair of solo home runs as the Boston Red Sox avoided being swept with a 5-2 road triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday afternoon.

Josh Reddick posted his third two-hit performance in four games, and Dustin Pedroia also homered for Boston, which won for just the second time in eight contests and earned Terry Francona his 700th victory as the club's manager.

After scoring just one run over the first two games of the series, Boston was held in check for four innings by Cole Hamels before the Phillies lefthander exited with a right hand contusion. Hamels, who allowed two hits and fanned a pair, was struck by Adrian Gonzalez's liner in the fourth but finished the inning.

X-rays were negative and Hamels is expected to make his next start.

Lester (10-4) walked two and struck out five in ending his personal two-game losing streak. The southpaw, who improved to 7-1 on the road this year, is 2-0 with a 0.43 ERA in three career meetings with Philadelphia.

David Herndon (0-2) came on and yielded two runs in the fifth as Drew Sutton plated Reddick with a single before scoring on Jacoby Ellsbury's base hit three batters later. Varitek made it 3-0 with a solo blast in the sixth before going back-to-back with Pedroia in the eighth to complete his first two-homer game since April 10, 2010.

Ryan Howard spoiled Boston's shutout bid with a two-run blast off Bobby Jenks in the ninth. Jonathan Papelbon recorded the final two outs for his 15th save in 16 chances.