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Youkilis, Lester help Red Sox top Rangers

Aug 14, 2008 - 4:17 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Texas Rangers didn't have enough left for another dramatic comeback.

Kevin Youkilis smashed three doubles, drove in two runs and scored three times while Jon Lester held the Rangers in check as the Boston Red Sox earned an 8-4 victory on Wednesday at Fenway Park.

One night after blowing two 10-run leads only to escape with a 19-17 win, the Red Sox jumped to an 8-0 cushion after five innings. Texas' hitters came alive again, but eighth-inning homers by Ian Kinsler and Milton Bradley weren't enough.

Lester (11-4) scattered seven hits and three runs over 7 1/3 innings in earning his eighth win in nine decisions.

"I thought he was tremendous," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of his starter. "I thought he had power on his two-seamer and his cutter. It's a shame, you look up in the eighth and two inherited runners score. I really thought he pitched really, really well."

Lester is 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in his last 12 starts at Fenway, the seventh Boston pitcher since 1956 to go unbeaten in 12 straight home starts. He also recorded his seventh straight start of at least seven innings. Boston is 14-1 when Lester pitches at least seven innings.

"I was feeling pretty good," Lester said. "Early on, I was able to establish first-pitch strikes and I was around the zone. With this team, if you establish strikes early on, you can get some easy outs later. I was able to do that and ran into a little trouble in the eighth but that happens."

It was the second straight night Youkilis played the role of offensive hero, drilling two homers on Tuesday, including a

go-ahead three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth.

On Wednesday, no such late-game dramatics were necessary. Youkilis doubled in each of his first three at-bats as the Red Sox pounded Rangers starter Luis Mendoza.

"This is a team you can't count a lead against," Youkilis said. "You have to get them out because they can swing it real well and that's why they're considered at the top offensively in a lot of categories. Lester threw the ball great against them and that shows how well Lester's been throwing."

Youkilis, who is expected to fill in indefinitely for the disabled Mike Lowell at third, has six doubles, four homers and

13 RBI in his last 11 games. He doubled in two runs after Mendoza intentionally walked David Ortiz with one out to load the bases and get to Youkilis in the third.

"They've been giving me opportunities by walking David," Youkilis said. "When you get nobody out or one out and bases loaded, it's always fun. To go up there and hit it's always easier than two outs."

The rest of the Red Sox lineup continued their red-hot hitting, with Dustin Pedroia collecting another two hits and Jason Bay and Jed Lowrie each chipping in two-run doubles.

"He's been unreal, coming up with clutch hit after clutch hit," Bay said of Youkilis. "He's got a lot more pop than I've probably given him credit for. And with Lowell out, he's probably one of those guys who could step up and provide a little protection in that lineup and he's done a great job."

Mendoza (3-6) was tagged for eight runs - seven earned - and nine hits in four-plus innings. He walked four and struck out two.

"Like I always say, you play nine innings, and we did tonight," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Mendy (Mendoza) just didn't have it. I was hoping that he could keep us in the ball game but when you spot those guys those kind of runs, last night we were able to make it up but tonight you can't keep expecting to try to make that up. It was just one of those nights again."

Kinsler broke up Lester's shutout bid with his 17th homer - his second in as many nights - with one out in the eighth.

"He kept the ball out of the middle of the plate, changed speeds, threw his off-speed stuff behind in the count, definitely spotted his fastball," Washington said of Lester. "We got to him there in the (eighth) inning and at least he didn't finish it. I thought he was on his way to finishing. At least he didn't finish it and we started to put some good swings on him."

After Michael Young and Jason Ellison reached on singles, Mike Timlin replaced Lester and allowed Bradley to set a career high with his 20th homer, a three-run tape-measure shot to right field to cut the Boston lead to four.

Ellison replaced Josh Hamilton, who left the game in the sixth inning to fly back to Texas and be with his wife, who went into labor.

The Rangers put the first two runners on against Justin Masterson in the ninth before Kinsler hit into a 1-6-3 double

play to kill the rally.

"We set out to get a win and we did that," Francona said. "We made it a little more interesting than we needed to but I thought (Lester's) stuff was really good. We scored early and we added on. We talk about it so much, when you do that, a mistake doesn't beat you."