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Red Sox pull off wild win over Rangers

Aug 13, 2008 - 5:39 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- David Ortiz helped give the Boston Red Sox a 10-run cushion after one inning. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis made sure they wouldn't suffer a humiliating defeat.

Pedroia matched a career high with five hits, including a game-tying double in the eighth, and Youkilis drilled a go-ahead three-run homer as the Red Sox outlasted the Texas Rangers, 19-17, on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

After arriving home at 6 a.m. Tuesday following a game in Chicago on Monday night, a tired Red Sox club went out and scored 12 runs in the first three innings.

"That was pretty tiring, especially getting in so late in the morning," Pedroia said. "But it was a huge win for us. To be up 10 runs, twice, and have them come back. They can flat-out swing the bats. But it was a huge win for us."

"That's an interesting night," Red Sox manager Terry Francona deadpanned afterward. "At some point you're thinking about going for a field goal. There's a lot to be said for playing the game and continuing to play because that had a chance to be a really frustrating night and in the end, the music's playing and we won.

"That's what we set out to do. That's not exactly how we drew it up."

Marlon Byrd had five hits for the Rangers, who were on the verge of the greatest road comeback in team history, overcoming a pair of 10-run deficits before the Red Sox stunned them with four runs in the eighth inning.

"I can say I never (have been in a game like that)," said Rangers manager Ron Washington when asked if he ever experienced a similar big league game. "After that first inning when they had us down, 10-0, I think everybody in this ballpark and everybody in all of Massachusetts thought the game was over right there. But one thing I can always say about my guys is they play nine innings, and they certainly did that tonight."

The 36 combined runs tied an American League record previously set on June 20, 1950, when the Red Sox topped the Philadelphia Athletics, 22-14.

Ortiz had a pair of first-inning three-run home runs and a double for the Red Sox, who nearly lost a game when leading by 10 runs for the first time since June 4, 1989, against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

"It was an exciting game," Ortiz said. "We needed that. We need that type of game, the way everybody relaxed, loosened up. We've got two more months to decide where we're going to be at the end of the season. That's the kind of game that puts you in the mood and gets you going right away."

One night after resting his left wrist, Ortiz ignited the 10-run first-inning explosion. The slugger needed only three pitches to launch two towering homers off a shell-shocked Scott Feldman and tie an AL record with six RBI in an inning as Boston enjoyed its biggest inning since scoring 14 in the opening frame of a 25-8 rout of the Florida Marlins on June 27, 2003.

While the first homer came on an 0-1 pitch that landed deep into the grandstands down the right field line, the second homer, on the first pitch, was the result of an odd Fenway Park ground rule.

Replays showed the ball landing to the left of the yellow line in center field and then ricocheting into the stands above the Red Sox bullpen. By rule, it was called a home run because it hit a higher wall and landed in the stands over a shorter wall.

The strange homer capped a bizarre inning in which the Red Sox scored six unearned runs and sent 13 batters to the plate and Youkilis tied another major league record by striking out for the first and third outs of the frame. With his 15th and 16th homers of the season, Ortiz passed Jimmie Foxx (222) and Bobby Doerr (223) for sole possession of seventh place on Boston's all-time list.

Feldman needed 49 pitches to get through the first inning and finally got yanked in the third inning after giving up two more runs. The righthander allowed 12 runs - six earned - on 10 hits over 2 2/3 innings. The 12 runs were the most allowed by a major league pitcher since Jon Garland of the Chicago White Sox allowed 12 on July 6, 2007, against Minnesota.

"I was just getting behind everybody," Feldman said. "There were a couple of times where I put pitches where I wanted to throw it and they put good swings on it. They're a good hitting team but nobody should ever score 10 runs in the first inning off you. It's pretty embarrassing, actually."

Charlie Zink, another knuckleballer called on to replace the disabled Tim Wakefield in his major league debut, gave up two runs in the second inning but got Ian Kinsler to pop out to short with two on.

The Red Sox reclaimed their 10-run cushion with two in the third.

But trailing 12-2 entering the fifth, the Rangers erupted with a big rally of their own, knocking the 28-year-old rookie from the game. Kinsler got a measure of revenge with a three-run homer to left-center, capping an eight-run, eight-hit burst and pulling Texas within 12-10.

"When you got to the bullpen that early, you're always running the risk that exactly what happened can happen," Francona said of pulling Zink in the fifth inning. "We couldn't stop anything. They were taking some pretty good swings in the fifth but again, the earlier you go to your bullpen, especially against that ballclub, you're running the risk that you just can't stop it."

After Youkilis connected for a two-run homer to bump the lead to 14-10, the Rangers scored five in the sixth off David Aardsma and Manny Delcarmen, highlighted by Kinsler's go-ahead sacrifice fly which scored Chris Davis for a 15-14 edge.

Frank Francisco (2-4) surrendered Pedroia's double and Youkilis' three-run homer in the eighth and took the loss.

"There's been some crazy games here in Boston but usually it's like a college-type game with those runs scored," Youkilis said. "But it was definitely a good game for us to pull out in the end and huge for us to get that win."

"You feel bad because you lost but I'm very proud of my guys in there, the way they fought," Washington said. "We even went to the last inning against one of the best closers in the game and got the tying run (at the plate). It's just one of those nights. It wasn't meant for us to get it, I guess."

Hideki Okajima (3-2) pitched the seventh and eighth for the win while Jonathan Papelbon allowed one run in the ninth but still earned his 32nd save.

"We went to the eighth inning with the lead, a chance to win the ballgame but we just couldn't shut them down," Washington said. "If you ask Terry (Francona), I think he'd tell you that he didn't expect to have to manage how he managed."