Jake Peavy helped the team with the most series victories in the majors this season to take one from a club that hadn’t lost one in 2 1/2 months.

Peavy pitched a three-hitter and the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-1 Sunday night.

The Red Sox, who won their 26th series, were the first team to capture one from the Dodgers since June 14-16, when Pittsburgh took two of three. But Los Angeles is 46-12 since June 22.

“Tonight was a very big night for us, and we knew that,” Peavy said. “We had to come in here and play a very good team that hadn’t lost a series in quite a while.”

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.

“I think this was a good little lesson for us,” manager Don Mattingly said after watching his team get just four runs and nine hits combined against Peavy, John Lackey and Jon Lester in 24.1 innings.

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-yearold left-hander, who was born in Springfield, Mass., has gotten through the seventh inning in only one of his 18 starts this season.

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. … RHP Clay Buchholz began 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.