Bosox get back on track

Two and a half seasons after he came to Boston, David Price is finally delivering the excitement that accompanied his arrival.

“This is the pitcher Boston signed,” the Red Sox lefty said after pitching eight innings of three-hit, shutout ball to beat the Indians, 7-0, on Thursday. “For me to get back to that, it’s about time.”

Price (14-6) earned his fifth straight win, getting three bases-loaded doubles in a sixrun fifth inning to help the Red Sox split their four-game series with the AL Centralleading Indians. After losing the first two games, Boston won twice in 20 hours to open a 9½-game lead over the idle Yankees in the AL East.

The Red Sox, who have the best record in baseball at 9039, have not lost four games in a row all season, and they are the only team in the majors that has not been swept.

HOLLIDAY BACK

The Rockies selected the contract of Matt Holliday from Triple-A Albuquerque on Thursday after he signed a minor-league deal last month.

A seventh-round pick in 1998 by Colorado, Holliday played the first five seasons of his 14-year career with the Rockies, hitting .290 as a rookie in 2004 and helping lead Colorado to its only World Series appearance in 2007.

FLYING CARDINALS

St. Louis has undergone quite a transformation since firing manager Mike Matheny on July 14.

At that time, the Cardinals were 47-46 and trailed the Cubs by 7½ games. After sweeping the Dodgers on Wednesday to win their eighth consecutive series, the Cardinals have won 24 of 35 and are 17-4 this month to pull within 2 ½ games of Chicago.

They’re tied for the NL’s top wild-card spot, too, heading into Friday’s action.