Youkilis keys BoSox win in Beantown

Sep 12, 2007, 3:37 GMT

Boston, MA - Kevin Youkilis hit a bases-loaded triple in the sixth-inning to give Boston the lead, as the Red Sox outslugged the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 16-10, in the middle contest of a three-game set at Fenway Park.

Kevin Cash also knocked in three runs while Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and J.D. Drew each homered for the Red Sox, who remained five games in front of the Yankees for the AL East lead. New York also won on Tuesday.

Third baseman Mike Lowell was the only Boston starter not to record an RBI, but had a team-high four hits with three runs scored.

Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield pitched into the fourth inning and gave up 10 hits and seven runs. The knuckle-baller entered the game with a career 19-2 record against Tampa Bay with a 2.72 earned run average in 36 games.

Bryan Corey (1-0) got the win with a scoreless inning of relief.

Carlos Pena hit a three-run home run and Akinori Iwamura also had three RBI for the Devil Rays, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.

Tampa Bay starter Andy Sonnanstine didn't fare a whole lot better than Wakefield, yielding eight hits and five runs over 3 1/3 innings.

'I felt like I was throwing a lot of quality pitches just off the plate,' said Sonnanstine. 'Any time you do that with this lineup, and get in hitter's counts, when they're swinging the bats like they are, like tonight, you're setting yourself up for trouble.'

Trailing 9-5 after Iwamura's two-out RBI double in the fifth, the Red Sox scored three runs in the bottom of the inning before taking the lead with six in sixth.

Boston loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk before Coco Crisp's sacrifice fly made it 9-6. Julio Lugo's double scored another run and Cash's sac fly brought the Red Sox within 9-8.

Jon Switzer (0-1) relieved Scott Dohmann and got Tampa Bay out of the inning, but Pedroia's leadoff homer in the sixth tied the game. Ortiz's single chased Switzer from the game and a single and a walk off Grant Balfour loaded the bases for the Red Sox.

Youkilis' triple off the base of the center-field wall cleared the bases and Crisp's double put Boston up 13-9. Ellsbury's two-out RBI single off Juan Salas capped the scoring inning.

Ortiz and Drew then both went deep in the seventh to make it 16-9.

Dioner Navarro's RBI single in the ninth off Eric Gagne made it a six-run game, but Gagne retired the next two batters to preserve the win.

Tampa Bay struck first with four runs in second. Brendan Harris homered and Navarro and Iwamura ripped RBI singles. Carl Crawford's run-scoring groundout capped the inning and made it 4-0.

Ellsbury homered in the third for Boston before the Devil Rays put up four more runs in the fourth. Iwamura hit another RBI double before Pena connected on a three-run homer to make it 8-1.

Boston, however, came to lift in the home half of the fourth with four runs of its own. Lugo's bases-loaded single brought one run in before Cash's subsequent single chased two runs home. Pedroia's sac fly later in the inning made it 8-5.

'It didn't start out looking real great, down 8-1 is not really the formula but I don't think we abandoned our approach, which is easy to do when you're down a bunch,' said Boston manager Terry Francona. 'We made them go to the bullpen and we made them continue to go to the bullpen and kept pressure on them the whole time.'

Game Notes

The game was delayed 12 minutes due to rain...The Red Sox overcame their largest deficit to win a game since the 2000 season...Navarro ended a career-high 4-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored for Tampa Bay...Pena extended his Tamp Bay-franchise record for home runs in a season with 39...Drew finished 3-for-4 with four runs scored for Boston...Attendance was 36,640.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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