• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Relievers shine in Boston's 11-6 win over Phillies

Jun 14, 2009 - 4:57 AM By ROB MAADDI AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA(AP) -- Daisuke Matsuzaka rode a stationary bike, played catch and kept his arm warm during a long rain delay, hoping to return to the mound with a five-run lead.

Dice-K still couldn't stick around long enough to get a win.

Jason Bay and Jacoby Ellsbury homered, Julio Lugo had four hits, and the Boston Red Sox overcame another shaky outing by Matsuzaka to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-6 on Saturday night.

"The pitches they hit were mistakes. I don't want to blame it on the rain," Matsuzaka said after allowing four runs and seven hits in four innings.

The Red Sox have won the first two games in an interleague matchup between division leaders. They'll go for the sweep Sunday with ace Josh Beckett on the mound.

Raul Ibanez hit his 22nd homer, and Pedro Feliz and Jayson Werth also connected for the Phillies, who've lost two straight since returning from a 7-3 road trip. The defending World Series champions are a major league-best 23-9 on the road, but they're only 12-16 at Citizens Bank Park.

"We came back, but couldn't hold them," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Hideki Okajima (3-0) allowed one run in two innings to earn the victory. Four Red Sox relievers gave up two runs in five innings after Matsuzaka departed. After going 18-3 last year, Matsuzaka is 1-4 with a 7.55 ERA.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona didn't think it's fair to judge Matsuzaka's performance on a night he waited out a rain delay of 1 hour, 35 minutes before the second inning.

"It's a horrible night to get a read on him," Francona said. "He gave us a lot. It was a tough night to pitch."

Phillies starter Antonio Bastardo (2-1) gave up five runs - four earned - and three hits in one inning. The hard-throwing lefty didn't return after the delay.

Trailing 5-0, the Phillies started chipping away in the third. Consecutive two-out doubles by Shane Victorino and Chase Utley produced the first run. Third baseman Mike Lowell prevented another with a diving, backhanded catch on Ryan Howard's liner to end the inning.

Ibanez crushed a solo homer to right in the fourth. After Werth singled, Feliz went deep to cut it to 5-4.

But the Red Sox answered with three runs off Jack Taschner in the fifth. Jason Varitek had an RBI double and Lugo and Dustin Pedroia added run-scoring singles to make it 8-4.

Werth's RBI single off Manny Delcarmen in the fifth got the Phillies to 8-5. But Delcarmen escaped further trouble by striking out pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs to leave the bases loaded.

Bastardo, who won his first two career starts on the West Coast, struggled right from the start in his first outing in front of the home crowd. Some uncharacteristically sloppy defense by the Phillies didn't help the rookie pitcher.

Bastardo issued three walks and Philadelphia made three errors in the first. Bay hit a long drive out to left-center for his 17th homer. With two runners on, Lugo lined a two-out single to center that skipped past Victorino. Both runners scored to put the Red Sox up 5-0, and Lugo reached third.

It was the first error this season for Victorino, a Gold Glove winner last year. The Phillies came in with the fewest errors (19) and the best fielding percentage (.991) in the majors.

Victorino saved three runs in the fifth with an over-the-shoulder, running catch on Kevin Youkilis' two-out drive with the bases loaded.

NOTES: John Smoltz will make his next start Thursday, but it's uncertain whether it'll be with the Red Sox or another rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket. Smoltz, who spent 20 seasons with Atlanta, is returning from shoulder surgery last June. ... Pedroia was 0 for 10 in the series and 3 for 35 before his RBI single. ... Chad Durbin pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Bastardo. ... Jimmy Rollins is 1 for 20 in the last four games, dropping the 2007 NL MVP's average from a meager .230 to .217. ... Boston has won 12 of 14 against Philadelphia since 2005.