St. Louis— Jon Lester smothered St. Louis on four hits into the eighth, David Ross hit a tiebreaking RBI double in a two-run seventh inning off Adam Wainwright and the Boston Red Sox beat the Cardinals 3-1 Monday night to take a 3-2 World Series lead.

David Ortiz’s RBI double in the first put the Red Sox ahead until Matt Holliday hit his second home run of the Series in the fourth, ending a 16 1-3 inning Series scoreless streak for Lester dating to 2007.

Lester beat Wainwright for the second time this Series, striking out seven and walking one in 7 2-3 innings, and Koji Uehara finished the four-hitter for his second save.

Wainwright allowed all three runs and eight hits in seven innings with 10 strikeouts and a walk. He also gave up Jacoby Ellsbury’s RBI single in the seventh.

Boston can win its third title in a decade on Wednesday night, when the Series resumes at Fenway Park.