Sox pull it out as things run amok at Fenway

August 13, 2008|Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff

There was still hope in the frayed voices of the Fenway faithful. Too much, perhaps. As Jacoby Ellsbury walked to the plate in the eighth, they cheered. As J.D. Drew lifted a fly ball to right field, they cheered. Hadn't they given up yet? Hadn't they headed for the exits, the jubilation of a 10-run first inning turned into discouragement and regret, that ocean-deep lead turning to a deficit with frightening quickness?

They hadn't. That's why they stood, a catch in their throats, as Dustin Pedroia shot a ball to left field, hitting it high off the Green Monster. That's why they roared, as they sensed the tide turning, as Ellsbury rounded third, headed home, slid into the plate.

The score - improbably, impossibly - was tied.

The Red Sox had won this game, and lost this game, and won it again. Because, with the score knotted at 16 in that eighth inning, Kevin Youkilis laced a pitch off the facade of the Sports Authority sign in left field for yet another three-run homer. It bounced off the sheeting, lifting Youkilis and the Red Sox - and a crowd that had its boos turned to cheers - to a ridiculous 19-17 win over the Rangers last night at Fenway Park in front of 38,004 dazed fans.

The total of 36 runs tied the American League record, which was set in 1950 by the Red Sox and Philadelphia Athletics (a 22-14 Boston win).

David Ortiz, who stroked two three-run home runs - both in the first inning - and nearly had a third that became a double, told WRKO radio, "It was an exciting game. We need that kind of game, the way everybody kind of relaxed, loosened up. We've got two more months to decide where we're going to be at the end of the season, so that's the kind of game that puts you in the mood and gets you going all the way."

So, how nice was it to see Youkilis's home run clear the Monster, making a victory out of what would have been a dispiriting loss?

"Even more than that was to see the last out," manager Terry Francona said, only half-joking. "That's an interesting night. At some point you're thinking about going for a field goal."

"That had a chance to be a really frustrating night, and in the end the music's playing and we won. That's what we set out to do. That's not exactly how we drew it up."

Perhaps the 10 first-inning runs were, or the addition of more in the third and fifth. But not the utter demolition of the Red Sox bullpen, the release of a lead that seemed utterly unimpeachable.

So, it was stunning when Frank Catalanotto crossed the plate in the sixth. A Chris Davis grounder had bounced off Youkilis, for a rare error, to Pedroia. In a move that seemed desperate, Pedroia threw home. But the ball came in high, not leaving Kevin Cash enough time to get the tag down, and the Rangers had scored again.