• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Ramirez reaches 501 as Red Sox pound Orioles

Jun 2, 2008 - 7:27 PM By Sean Burns PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- With slugger David Ortiz out of the lineup and manager Terry Francona back in Massachusetts attending his

daughter's high school graduation, the Boston Red Sox didn't skip a beat Sunday, rapping 16 hits en route to a 9-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles.



Every Boston starter reached base at least once - only rookie Jeff Bailey did not record a hit - and six players knocked in two or more runs. The only inning that the Red Sox failed to record a hit was in the sixth.

"We had a lot of guys swinging the bats good today," Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. "Even ones we didn't get hits, they were line-outs. It's nice to score some runs and get hits like we did."



Much of the damage was done against Baltimore starter Brian Burres (4-5), who lasted four innings and allowed seven runs.

Boston scored one run in the second inning, then tacked on three each in the third and fourth, highlighted by Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell hitting back-to-back home runs in the fourth.

"I was pitching from behind a lot, and I left a couple balls up in the zone," Burres said. "It was just one of those days ... when I made a bad pitch, they didn't miss it."

Ramirez's blast was the 501st of his career. The veteran slugger reached the 500 milestone on Saturday night.



J.D. Drew also homered, connecting in the seventh off reliever Steve Trachsel.



Ramirez finished the day with three hits, but ended the eighth inning by failing to tag up at first on a line- drive out by Lowell. Jacoby Ellsbury also recorded three hits.

"I was just trying to get (Lowell) an RBI, but he made a great play," Ramirez said.

The onslaught made a winner of Bartolo Colon (3-0), who scattered seven hits and four runs in six-plus innings. The former Cy Young Award winner has won all three of his starts for Boston.

"(Colon) did an outstanding job today," said Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills, who was acting as manager in Francona's absence. "He kept us in there.

"It's not much of a surprise to us (that Colon is doing well.) Look what he's done throughout his career. Once he got through his rehab program, he was ready to throw."

After going down by a run early, Baltimore rallied to knot the score on Luke Scott's double and Adam Jones' single in the second, but couldn't keep pace as the visitors continued to add to their lead.

"Boston is a team that takes a lot of pitches and hits the ball very well," said Trachsel, who worked five innings of relief. "You've got to be able to throw every pitch for strikes if you want to get through that lineup."

Scott also had a home run for Baltimore, which fell to 26-29 on the year.