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Red Sox rally past Rangers again

Apr 20, 2008 - 10:33 PM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) - Even down five runs late, the Boston Red Sox continue to find ways to beat the Texas Rangers.

Sean Casey drew a base-loaded walk to cap off a four-run eighth inning as the Red Sox overcame a five-run deficit to defeat the Rangers, 6-5, Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox won their third straight in the series and fourth straight overall while Texas fell for the third straight time and dropped to 7-12 on the season.

Rookie Jed Lowrie had a pair of doubles and pinch hitter Dustin Pedroia connected for a game-tying RBI double in the eighth inning.

"We strung some at-bats together there at the end," Pedroia said. "It was big win for us.

"I was trying to get a pitch out over the plate. I know C.J. Wilson throws real hard. I didn't want to pull him because he would probably jam me. I ended up getting a pitch where I wanted it and hit it well."

David Ortiz pulled Boston within 5-4 with an RBI single deep into the right field shift just prior to Pedroia's pinch hit.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona was forced to juggle his lineup somewhat after Manny Ramirez was ejected for arguing a called third strike in the second inning. He was replaced by Joe Thurston, who was pulled for Pedroia in the eighth.

"It's a game-changer," Francona said. "We told (Pedroia) even before, Wilson's going to get into this game and you're going to hit off him somewhere.

"The situation arose and we didn't have a lot of flexibility, obviously. We're sending (Julio) Lugo to left field, guys are sick, we were pushing it and didn't have a whole lot to do but the guys kept playing."

Jason Varitek was also unavailable as he was fighting a strong head cold, shortening the bench even further.

Tim Wakefield (2-0) allowed seven hits and five runs over eight innings, walking none while striking out five.

"I was hoping for a comeback, obviously," Wakefield said. "We had some opportunities early. Millwood pitched out of some big jams and it just shows the resilience of our club."

Ian Kinsler belted Wakefield's third pitch of the day over the "Green Monster" seats in left for his first homer of the season.

Hank Blalock and Frank Catalanotto opened the second inning with singles off Wakefield. But the Red Sox knuckleballer limited damage to Gerald Laird's RBI ground, scoring Blalock, to give Texas a 2-0 lead.

The Red Sox had one of their chances to get on the board in the fifth and sixth innings, but left the bases loaded both times. Boston left 19 runners on base on the afternoon.

With one out in their half of the sixth, the Rangers began a rally that gave them a valuable cushion.

Young and Josh Hamilton opened with singles. Milton Bradley then belted his first homer of the season, giving the Rangers a 5-0 lead.

The Red Sox finally began to convert on their opportunities against Texas starter Kevin Millwood in the seventh when Lowrie connected for the first of his two doubles. Ortiz singled the rookie home to make it 5-1 to knock Millwood from the game.

Millwood scattered 10 hits while allowing two runs over six-plus innings, walking two and striking out seven.

"That's what was keeping us in the game early is that we were getting Millwood's pitch count real high," Lowrie said. "That was the snowball that started it all and once we got into their bullpen, we came through. This has been the most exciting time of my life, so far."

C.J. Wilson (0-1) faced five batters in the eighth and could not record an out and left after walking Casey as the Rangers bullpen failed for the second straight game.

"Once again, we had them where we wanted," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We brought in C.J. to get the one out, finish the ninth and he just couldn't get the job done.

"We're not afraid of the Boston Red Sox. We've just got to learn how to put ball games away. We had them beat twice and we let them get away. We've just got to learn how to put ball games away. Whether that's getting hits, whether that's playing defense or whether that's pitching. You just have to put ball games away. We can play with anybody. We just have to put ball games away late."

Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save and his second in as many days.

"It's just how we drew it up," Francona said. "Again, we didn't have the lead for very long but we seemed to get it at the right time. There's something to be said for just plugging away and not feeling sorry for yourself and trying to play the game. Some good things happened. Actually, some great things happened."