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Hinske, Gabbard help Red Sox salvage split against Rangers

Jul 3, 2007 - 4:23 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Even the best teams in baseball get solid production from unexpected sources.

Eric Hinske hit a bases-clearing triple in the fifth inning and rookie Kason Gabbard pitched into the sixth for the first time this season, helping the Boston Red Sox post a 7-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday and earn a split of the four-game series.

With two outs and the Red Sox clinging to a 4-3 lead, Hinske, who did not discover he was getting the start until afternoon batting practice, lined a three-run triple to center over the head of Rangers center fielder Kenny Lofton to increase the advantage to 7-3.

"I was just looking for a pitch out over the plate, Hinske said. "I got a good pitch to hit. I got in a hitters' count, that was big. He threw two cutters inside. It was a 2-0 pitch and I just put a good swing on a pitch down and barreled it up. That was big for us."

The triple was his first since April 14 and the three RBI already matches a season high in a month for the 2002 AL Rookie of the Year.

"It was a great swing but from where I was sitting, we didn't see the ball come down right away," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "(Lofton's) body was kind of shielding it and I know he got close. It was three big runs, obviously. It's nice to be rewarded for a good swing, especially with the bases loaded."

Gabbard, filling in for injured ace Curt Schilling, held Texas hitless through 4 1/3 innings.

"Honestly, when you're out there pitching, it goes by so fast and you're just trying to do your job and get your team back out there to bat as soon as possible," Gabbard said. "The crowd just never stops. It is the best crowd, obviously, you want to play in front of and they are in the game the whole time."

The 25-year-old went a season-high 5 2/3 innings, yielding three runs and three hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

"I felt a lot better than I did last game," Gabbard said. "I think I had a little bit more command of my two-seamer, my fastball (inside) and my changeup was there like it usually is and I threw some pretty good breaking stuff."

The lefthander only experienced one rough stretch over his 100-pitch outing, surrendering Brad Wilkerson's three-run homer in the top of the fifth after allowing a leadoff walk to Marlon Byrd and a single to Gerald Laird.

"Early in the game, he wasn't throwing (his breaking ball) for strikes and we were chasing it," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "I don't know if it was his changeup or not that was throwing us off a little bit. Finally, he hung a breaking ball to Wilkerson and we got back into the game but we couldn't stop their charge."

The 7-8-9 hitters in the Boston batting order - Jason Varitek, Hinske and rookie Jacoby Ellsbury - each had two hits and scored four times for the Red Sox, who have won just one of their last four home series despite being the majors' second team to win 50 games.

The speedy Ellsbury provided the game's most exciting moment, scoring from second base on a wild pitch from Willie Eyre in the fourth that eluded catcher Laird and rolled all the way to the corner of the Rangers' third base dugout.

"That's the first time I've ever scored from second but I've gone first to third (base) a few times," said Ellsbury, who was playing in just his third big league game. "I saw the wild pitch early and I went for it. I saw (third base coach) DeMarlo Hale waving me but I think I was already by him."

Hinske, who took the place of Kevin Youkilis in the lineup, did not find out until late in the afternoon that he would be starting. Youkilis missed the contest due to a strained left quadriceps.

Texas starter Brandon McCarthy (4-5), who was making his first start since June 9 due to a stint on the disabled list with a blister on his right middle finger, surrendered four runs and six hits with three walks over 3 1/3 innings.

"(My) finger felt fine and everything felt fine physically and that makes it a little bit more disappointing," McCarthy said. "It's just when you feel that good you wish you could put things together and find a way to battle through that."

"Mac had been off for a while and just had trouble locating," Washington said. "When you have trouble locating against that team, they're going to make you pitch. They made us throw a lot of pitches tonight. That's their forte and that's what they did."

With the loss, the Rangers saw an end to a stretch in which they had won four consecutive series and five of their last six.