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Ramirez, Lowell power Red Sox past White Sox

Jul 23, 2007 - 12:00 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox's offense is firing on all cylinders.

Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell each hit a three-run home run as the Red Sox held off a late rally to defeat the Chicago White Sox, 8-5, on Sunday.

Kevin Youkilis also drove in a run for Boston, which outscored the White Sox, 31-14, en route to winning three of four games in the series.

After falling behind 8-1, the White Sox made things interesting when they scored four runs in the seventh before loading the bases with no outs in the ninth against Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon.

"It got a little louder than we wanted it to in the ninth," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

Chicago slugger Jim Thome struck out on high fastball for the first out of the inning before Papelbon nailed down his 22nd save of the season by inducing a 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Paul Konerko.

"He got me 2-0 then he started throwing fastballs but he's got plus stuff, every pitch he throws is plus stuff," Thome said. "He's going to have a great career, you can see that. He's got a great approach and great mentality. It's just frustrating for us because we had our guys up there."

Francona said the the ninth-inning threat was difficult to endure.

"That was agonizing but it's a heck of a lot better than losing or being behind," he said. "We finished the day like we set out to do. It wasn't very easy, but sometimes it's not."

Though enduring a rocky seventh, Tim Wakefield (11-9) picked up the win after allowing four runs, six hits and two walks while striking out two in 6 1/3 innings.

"I felt good, probably the best I've felt in three or four starts," said Wakefield, who earned his fourth win in his last five starts.

Chicago starter Jon Garland (7-7) created problems for himself in the first inning by walking leadoff hitter Julio Lugo and, after one out was recorded, issuing a free pass to Kevin Youkilis. That set the table for Ramirez who blasted his 15th home run of the season into the bullpen beyond the right field wall.

Josh Fields' RBI single in the fifth cut the deficit to 3-1, but Lowell provided a five run cushion with his 15th home run of the year in the bottom of the frame.

Lowell also started the game-ending double play in the ninth.

"Two-oh (count), bases loaded and Thome up, you don't feel too good right there but 'Pap' made some quality pitches and was able to put him away right there," Lowell said. "You didn't want Thome to hit a double and make the wheels start spinning so 'Pap' did a good job to regroup and get the outs he needed to get."

Garland allowed six runs, six hits and five walks while striking out three in 4 2/3 innings.

"(Garland) just didn't throw the way that he would like to be throwing," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He couldn't find the plate today and had a tough time doing that. But after the first inning and the last inning he pitched, he had a lot of pitches. He had almost 100 pitches in five innings."

Three of Garland's five walks came around to score.

"We all know that he is better than that and that this kid has done a tremendous job for us the last couple of years and today the only thing I can say is that he couldn't find the plate," Guillen said.

The Red Sox appeared to be well on their way to victory an inning later as Ramirez and Youkilis made it 8-1 with RBI singles, but the White Sox responded with a four-run outburst in the seventh.

Wakefield allowed a single to A.J. Pierzynski and a double to Jermaine Dye to open the seventh. Following a sacrifice fly by Rob Mackowiak, Fields plated Dye with a single. Manny Delcarmen replaced Wakefield at that point but did not fare much better, allowing a single to Juan Uribe before walking Jerry Owens to load the bases.

Alex Cintron delivered an RBI single and Thome forced home a run with a walk, before Delcarmen got Konerko to popout for the second out of the frame. Rookie reliever Hideki Okajima entered the game and struck out Pierzynski to end the threat.

Uribe finished with three hits for the White Sox, who lost for the seventh time in 10 games.