• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Red Sox edge Athletics in marathon battle

Jun 5, 2011 - 2:52 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - J.D. Drew ended a marathon battle between Boston and Oakland in the 14th inning, as his gapper to right plated Carl Crawford from second base to give the Red Sox a hard-fought 9-8 win.

The starting time of the second meeting of this three-game series was moved up in an effort to appease Bruins fans hoping to devote their attention to Game 2 of the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals.

The five-hour, 17-minute bout ended less than two hours before the drop of the puck, culminating in a two-out rally off Oakland's ninth pitcher -- Guillermo Moscoso (2-1).

Crawford, who ended with four hits and three RBI, sparked things with a double down the left-field line, and the Athletics opted to walk Jed Lowrie to get to Drew. On the second pitch he saw, Drew laced one into the right-field gap to score Crawford without a play at the plate for Boston's second straight win.

"I don't know if it's exactly how we drew it up...but I never felt like we were going to lose," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

Oakland dropped its fifth consecutive contest, but only after sending the game to extra innings with four runs off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth.

Conor Jackson, Josh Willingham and Cliff Pennington each drove in a pair of runs for Oakland, which got seven innings out of starter Trevor Cahill.

Papelbon's forgettable outing spoiled a win for Josh Beckett, who allowed three runs on four hits and three walks in six-plus innings of work.

Crawford's two-run double down the first-base line provided the Red Sox with a 7-3 advantage heading into the ninth, but the lead quickly evaporated.

Papelbon struggled putting hitters away in the non-save situation, allowing a base hit and a walk before striking out Landon Powell. The closer nearly got out of the inning unscathed by getting Coco Crisp on a routine double-play grounder to second, but the ball went through Dustin Pedroia's legs.

The error allowed Mark Ellis to score, and Pennington followed by slapping a run-scoring double to left for a 7-5 contest.

Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, apparently peeved his battery mate was being squeezed in the strike zone, was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Tony Randazzo, and Papelbon joined him in the clubhouse after pinch-hitter Jackson singled off the glove of a diving Kevin Youkilis at third.

Crisp and Pennington both came around to tie the game, and Papelbon was ejected on the next pitch as he gestured sarcastically towards Randazzo on a called strike.

Ryan Sweeney kept the rally alive by greeting Bobby Jenks with a single to put runners on the corners, but the next two batters went down swinging. Hideki Matsui struck out to end the inning and was thrown out at first base after the ball got away from newly-inserted backstop Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

After the Sox wasted a leadoff single in the 10th, Alfredo Aceves entered from Boston's bullpen and gave up a walk to Pennington and a double to Jackson.

Sweeney brought in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in left, but a drawn-in Lowrie threw out Jackson at the plate on Willingham's bouncer to short to keep it a one-run game, 8-7.

"We had a chance to add on and we couldn't get it done. But I love the effort," A's manager Bob Geren said.

Andrew Bailey, in his first save chance since coming off the disabled list on Sunday, struck out the first two hitters in the bottom half before Saltalamacchia lofted one high off the Green Monster for a double.

Jacoby Ellsbury, who also had four hits, knotted the game again on a ground- rule double over the short fence in right and was stranded on second when Drew Sutton struck out.

Sutton, who entered as a pinch-runner for Adrian Gonzalez in the 10th, again left Ellsbury in scoring position in the 13th with a humpback liner to second.

Aceves (3-1) threw the final four innings for Boston the earn the win.

Gonzalez's opposite-field homer in the first inning gave Boston the early lead, and the hosts made it 2-0 in the fifth when Drew singled home Crawford.

In Oakland's first opportunity with runners in scoring position, Willingham drilled one off the wall in left to plate David DeJesus and Sweeney to tie the game in the sixth.

The Sox took the lead right back in the bottom half when Ellsbury singled to open the inning, swiped second and scored without a throw when Pedroia's sharp liner ate up Ellis' backhand at second.

Pedroia then raced around from first on Youkilis' double into the left-field corner, and Crawford tacked on a two-out RBI single for a 5-2 cushion.

Daric Barton scored in the seventh on Pennington's sacrifice fly to cut into the deficit.

Game Notes

Beckett has allowed just four earned runs on six home starts, spanning 38 1/3 innings...Gonzalez went 3-for-5...Ellsbury stole two bases and has 22 on the year...Boston used seven pitchers. The 16 combined pitchers used were the most in a game at Fenway Park since Boston and Texas combined to use 17 on September 1, 1993..Cahill struck out eight and was touched for five runs on eight hits...The A's stranded 11, while Boston left 12 on base...The Red Sox improved to 3-2 in extra-inning games. Oakland fell to 5-8.