Though it was Youkilis with the big blow, the win started two at-bats before. With the Rangers bullpen having shut down 18 straight batters, dating to a Josh Reddick walk in the sixth, Marco Scutaro finally broke through with a single to left.
J.D. Drew stepped to the plate. The right fielder already had a grand slam that got the Sox back in the game after an early deficit. This time, he flied to center, though not particularly deep. Scutaro retreated — and then he went.
“I think people would have said that was the worst decision of his career if he got thrown out,’’ Youkilis said. “He didn’t.’’
As manager Terry Francona said, “That’s just good baseball. He did a good job, kept his head up. You go hard. That was just great base running.’’
The shortstop made it, barely scooting in ahead of the throw on a play he called “do or die.’’ He stood up, the breathing having gone back to normal for the 37,518 at Fenway Park. He was in scoring position, and when the Rangers elected to intentionally walk Dustin Pedroia, who was 5 for 11 against reliever Dustin Nippert, Youkilis was next.
“A win is a win,’’ Youkilis said. “Sometimes it’s a little more emotion and a lot better of a game when you walk it off, but we’d rather play nine innings and win by 10. Those will come. We’ll have hopefully a lot of those down the road.
“You’ve just got to go out there and battle. This team is battling right now. We’ve had some injuries, guys aren’t playing up to the top of their game. It’s still so early that there’s time to bounce back and figure things out.’’
Though if this is the way the Sox will win this season, heartrates all around New England might just go haywire. After a five-game losing streak, and a six-game losing streak at Fenway, the Sox have won a modest two in a row. Two nights, two walkoff celebrations.
