Jon Lester, Boston’s starting pitcher against Seattle last night, went 7 1/3 dominating innings and helped the Red Sox ended a three-game losing streak.

AP/ Ted S. Warren

SEATTLE - For completely different reasons, neither Jon Lester nor Jonathan Papelbon had pitched since the All-Star break, until last night.

Lester's layoff was mandated, as the Sox sought to get him some rest after he led all Red Sox starters in innings pitched in the first half. By placing him fourth in the rotation coming out of the break, the Sox gave the lefty nearly two weeks between starts.

Papelbon's absence, meanwhile, was unintentional. In getting swept by the Angels over the weekend, the Sox couldn't preserve a late-inning lead long enough to get the ball in Papelbon's hands.

Last night, however, Lester's and Papelbon's paths intertwined and helped the Red Sox win their first game in eight days. Together, they combined to help shutout the Seattle Mariners, 4-0.

Lester pitched into the eighth inning before departing after he took a comebacker off the shin. That served as Papelbon's opening. The closer recorded his 29th save of the season, bailing the Sox out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam on two pitches when he got Raul Ibanez to hit into a rally-killing double play.

Papelbon then retired the meek Mariners in order in the ninth as the Sox snapped a three-game losing streak and a five-game road skid.

Lester allowed eight hits in 7 1/3 innings, fanning six while walking no one. More than 70 percent of his pitches were for strikes.

``I just tried to stay down and attack the [strike] zone,'' said Lester, who improved to 8-3 with a 3.20 E.R.A. ``I got a lot of first-pitch strikes.''

``He was terrific,'' said manager Terry Francona. ``I looked up at one point, in the fifth or sixth inning, and he had thrown just 11 balls. He was throwing quality pitches and locating.''

A native of nearby Tacoma, Lester struggled in his previous Safeco Field outings, allowing nine runs in 10 innings over two starts.

``It's nice to finally come back here and pitch halfway decent,'' said Lester.

Though he fell five outs shy of his third complete-game shutout of the season, the start marked the sixth time this season that Lester left a game without having given up any runs.

He got the only backing he needed when Jason Varitek drilled a two-run homer off Jarrod Washburn in the fifth, Varitek's first homer since June 11, covering 83 at-bats. Later, rookie Jed Lowrie drilled a line single to left, scoring two more in the eighth to give Lester some operating room.

At times, Lester said, he felt a little too strong and overthrew, but it was hard to find fault with his performance. Through the first six innings, he allowed just one Mariner reach scoring position.

``He was [throwing] strike one a lot,'' said Varitek, ``and he was able to expand both sides [of the plate].''

For all Lester's brilliance through 7 1/3 innings, he and the Red Sox might not have survived were it not for Papelbon.

It took just two pitches to get two outs -- Ibanez's double-play on a fastball down and away. Papelbon then set down the Mariners without incident in the ninth for one of his cleaner appearances in some time.

``When you don't pitch for four or five days, it can be tough,'' acknowledged Papelbon. ``But it's the nature of my role and I've kind of learned to accept that.''

Papelbon has developed a routine to keep himself sharp -- both mentally and physically -- while not appearing in games.

``I want to get in the ballgame,'' he said. ``I want to get in the ballgame every night. But you can't always do that. And you can't duplicate [game situations]. I try to stay sharp with my dry work and stay sharp with my [bullpen sessions].

``It can be tough, no doubt about it. But it's something you learn with experience and put in your back pocket. It's all part of the learning experience.''

The Sox, who scored only eight runs in the three-game sweep in Anaheim, didn't start much better last night. Though they had four hits through the first three innings, they took themselves out of two innings with double plays and couldn't crack Washburn until Varitek, hitting righthanded, drilled a pitch down the line.

``I was able to get into a good count,'' said Varitek, ``and put a good swing on it. Any time you hit a two-run homer, it feels good.''

smcadam@projo.com