LOS ANGELES – Jake Peavy pitched a complete-game three-hitter and the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-1 Sunday night, becoming the first team to win a series from the NL West leaders in 2½ months.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Shane Victorino and Mike Napoli homered for the Red Sox on the anniversary of the blockbuster nine-player trade in which the Dodgers acquired Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto from Boston.
Gonzalez hit his 17th homer, driving an 0-2 pitch to center field with one out in the fourth for the Dodgers' first hit after the Red Sox staked Peavy to a 3-0 lead.
The victory enabled the Red Sox to regain sole position of first place in the AL East and put them a game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, who lost 3-2 to the Yankees in 11 innings.
The Dodgers maintained their 9½-game lead over Arizona in the NL West, following the Diamondbacks' 9-5 loss at Philadelphia.
The Red Sox were the first team to win a series from the Dodgers since June 14-16, when Pittsburgh took two of three. But Los Angeles is 46-12 since June 22.
Peavy (10-5) threw 111 pitches in his 300th big league start, going the distance for the 16th time while striking out five and walking one.
The right-hander is 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA in five starts since Boston acquired him in a trade from the Chicago White Sox.
Chris Capuano (4-7) gave up three runs and six hits through five innings in his first career appearance against Boston. The 35-year-old left-hander, who was born in Springfield, Mass., has gotten through the seventh inning in only one of his 18 starts this season.
Dustin Pedroia was credited with an infield hit in the first inning on a missed call by umpire Mark Carlson, who ruled him safe after shortstop Hanley Ramirez charged in on Pedroia's grounder and Gonzalez scooped up the low throw in time.
Victorino, who had doubled with one out before Pedroia came up, scored on Napoli's ground-rule double to center. But Capuano minimized the damage by getting Will Middlebrooks to ground into a double play, after loading the bases with a two-out intentional walk to Jonny Gomes.
Pedroia made it 2-0 in the third with a sacrifice fly. Xander Bogaerts, playing in his fourth major league game, got his first RBI with a fourth-inning double, and the Red Sox increased the margin to 6-1 with Saltalamacchia's two-run homer in the sixth and Victorino's solo shot in the seventh — both off rookie Chris Withrow.
Napoli capped the scoring in the ninth with his 16th home run, a two-run shot against Brandon League.
NOTES: ESPN announcer John Kruk, scheduled to work the game with play-by-play man Dan Shulman and former Red Sox ace Curt Schilling, was taken to a hospital less than an hour before game time because of dizziness and dehydration, according to a network spokesman. ... The Dodgers are 94-72 since the trade, and the Red Sox are 84-82. ... RHP Clay Buchholz rehab a minor league rehab assignment on Sunday with Class A Lowell against Hudson Valley and faced seven batters, giving up three runs — one earned — along with a hit and three walks on 38 pitches. He hasn't pitched for the Red Sox since June 8 because of a neck strain. ... Peavy is the 25th pitcher to make at least 300 starts in the majors. His only relief appearance was with the White Sox on June 25, 2001. ... The Dodgers finished their interleague schedule 12-8, their first winning record against AL clubs since 2004 (10-8). The Red Sox, who don't complete their interleague slate until Sept. 24-25 at Colorado, are 13-5 against NL teams.
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