• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Red Sox use eight-run eighth to down O's

Jul 19, 2011 - 5:21 AM Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - The Red Sox played 16 innings on Sunday and scored just once. They had no such trouble Monday.

Boston exploded for eight runs in the eighth inning to break a tie in decisive fashion, and beat the Orioles 15-10 in the opener of a three-game series at Camden Yards.

Dustin Pedroia keyed the rally with a two-run double, while Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run single and Carl Crawford, fresh off the disabled list, added an RBI single. Darnell McDonald capped the inning with a three-run double to help the Red Sox win for the 13th time in their last 15 contests.

"We didn't have much sleep but we came out and swung the bats good," said Pedroia. "It was nice to get all those runs and we're happy with the win. Now we get to go home and get some rest."

Boston was coming off a 1-0 extra-inning victory against the Rays, a game that went well into early Monday morning.

Mike Gonzalez (1-2), Mark Worrell and Chris Jakubauskas were responsible for all the runs as Baltimore had a two-game winning streak broken.

Baltimore held a 7-6 lead after five innings, but Youkilis evened the game with an RBI single in the seventh. The Red Sox took control in the next inning.

Gonzalez retired the first batter, but walked McDonald, gave up a single to Marco Scutaro and walked Jacoby Ellsbury to load the bases.

Baltimore brought in Worrell, whose contract was selected from Triple-A on Monday. The right-hander struggled in his first major league appearance since 2008, facing three batters without retiring any.

Pedroia drove his go-ahead double to right field before Worrell intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez to load the bases. But Youkilis lined a single back up the middle to plate two more and make it 11-7.

Jakubauskas came in and walked Josh Reddick to fill the bases for Crawford, who had been out since June 18 with a hamstring strain before being activated Monday. The left fielder singled to right, and two batters later McDonald blew the game apart with a bases-clearing double to left.

The Orioles scored three times in the bottom half but couldn't make up the difference. Dan Wheeler (2-1) took the victory after throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings on a night when much of Boston's bullpen was unavailable.

"He comes in and shuts it down for a while, that gave us a chance," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He really threw the ball well."

Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield, who didn't make it through the fifth and put Boston at a disadvantage in the first inning, when Derrek Lee smacked a two- run triple to center. It was about a foot away from being a home run, but bounced high off the wall and gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead.

The Red Sox's relentless offense quickly turned the game around for Wakefield, plating three runs in the third after keying on the pitches of Baltimore starter Brad Bergesen.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia opened the inning with a home run, and Scutaro and Ellsbury hit back-to-back line drive singles. Pedroia's soft grounder made its way through the left side of the infield, plating a run and extending his hitting streak to 16 games. Ellsbury scored on Gonzalez's single to left.

In the next inning, Crawford singled and scored from second when Scutaro's grounder to first skipped under Lee's legs.

Ellsbury's sacrifice fly to left extended the advantage to 5-2, and Boston tacked on another run when Reddick homered off the right field foul pole in the fifth.

"There was some tough ones tonight," said Bergesen. "There was some bloop hits and a couple chopper groundballs that got through. They also hit some balls hard. It's not one of those where I'm going to wonder if I need to change anything. I don't need to change anything at all, the results just weren't there for me tonight."

But Wakefield hit the wall in the bottom half.

J.J. Hardy, who finalized his three-year extension with the Orioles on Monday, hammered a two-run homer to left field to bring Baltimore within 6-4.

Adam Jones crushed his 16th homer of the season far beyond the left field fence, and Wakefield went on to load the bases after walking Mark Reynolds on four pitches. Nolan Reimold then doubled down the left field line to put Baltimore ahead, 7-6, and chase Wakefield from the game.

Wakefield allowed seven runs -- three earned -- in 4 2/3 innings. Bergesen gave up six runs -- four earned -- in five frames.

Game Notes

The Red Sox are 7-2 vs. the Orioles this year, and have scored 66 runs in the nine games...Francona picked up the 997th win of his managerial career...Wakefield remained stuck on 198 career wins, but his three strikeouts give him 1,996 in his Red Sox career...Until Lee's error in the fourth, the Orioles hadn't committed one in 62 innings...Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis went 1-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games...Boston DH David Ortiz and Orioles pitcher Kevin Gregg began serving three-game suspensions on Monday. The suspensions, which stem from a benches-clearing melee during the Red Sox-Orioles game on July 8, were reduced by a game from the original sentence...On Monday, the Orioles placed pitcher Alfredo Simon on the restricted list and recalled third baseman Josh Bell from Triple-A Norfolk...To make room for Crawford on the roster, Boston optioned infielder Drew Sutton to Pawtucket.