BOSTON (AP) – Mike Lowell and Alex Gonzalez homered to back rookie Jon Lester on Tuesday night and the Boston Red Sox won their 10th consecutive game – all against the NL – beating the New York Mets 9-4.

Lester (3-0) eked out five innings, allowing two runs and four hits with five walks – one with the bases loaded. He struck out Chris Woodward with the bases loaded in the fourth and fanned David Wright on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded in the fifth, hopping off the mound and punching the air as he left the field.

Alay Soler (2-2) gave up eight runs and 10 hits and walked three in 4 1-3 innings. Carlos Beltran went 2-for-2 with two walks and a homer, and Carlos Delgado and Eli Marrero also homered for the Mets.

The Red Sox swept three-game series against the Braves, Nationals and Phillies – all teams with double-digit deficits in the NL East – and improved to 12-1 in interleague play. But Boston was expecting a bigger challenge when the first-place Mets came to town.

They might get it tonight, when former Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez makes his first start in Fenway Park as an opponent. Martinez was called out of the dugout with a standing ovation in the series opener, by the fans who watched him win two Cy Young awards and a World Series title in Boston.

But the Red Sox were less welcoming to his predecessors on the mound. Soler had only allowed four earned runs in his previous three starts before running into trouble from the start on Tuesday, throwing 42 pitches in the first inning.

Kevin Youkilis doubled to lead off the first, Manny Ramirez walked with two outs and they scored on Jason Varitek’s double. Gonzalez doubled and scored in the second, and Boston made it 5-2 in the fourth when rookie left fielder Lastings Milledge lost Ramirez’s fly ball in the lights for a two-run double. In the fifth, Lowell homered with one out, Coco Crisp singled and Gonzalez followed with a two-run shot that made it 8-2. Gonzalez, Boston’s No. 9 hitter, is 13-for-29 over his last seven games.

The Mets left the bases loaded in the fourth and fifth, and gave away another run when Jose Reyes was thrown out at the plate for the second out in the fifth, crumpling to the ground after colliding with catcher Varitek.

Reyes stayed on the dirt in obvious pain while the Mets trainers attended to him; after a few minutes, he walked off cradling his left arm.

But he took the field for the bottom of the fifth.

Notes: The Red Sox went their 14th game without an error, the longest streak in the majors this season. The AL record is 15. … In a pregame ceremony, the Red Sox honored the 1986 AL champion team that blew a chance to win the World Series against the Mets when Mookie Wilson’s grounder went between Bill Buckner’s legs. Former Mets 1B Keith Hernandez, now a broadcaster with the team, watched the ceremony on television from the media dining room. … Delgado’s 390th career homer tied Graig Nettles for 46th on the all-time list. … Boston OF Wily Mo Pena (hand) is scheduled to for a minor-league rehab stint later in the week. LHP David Wells (knee) is expected to join the Red Sox in Tampa Bay next week. … Mets RF Xavier Nady left the game with a bruised left wrist after getting hit by a pitch in the sixth.

AP-ES-06-27-06 2228EDT