The Sox survived an erratic performance by starter Tim Wakefield with a torrent of of fense. They had 16 hits, including home runs by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Josh Reddick.
Trailing, 7-6, after the fifth inning, the Sox scored one run in the seventh and eight in the eighth to win for the ninth time in their last 10 games.
The 15 runs were one off their season high. Dan Wheeler (2-1) was the winner, throwing 2 ⅓ scoreless innings in relief of Wakefield.
Pedroia had a two-run double to give the Red Sox the lead in the eighth. He was 2 for 5 to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. He has 23 extra-base hits and 28 RBIs in his last 32 games, hitting .379 in that stretch.
It was Pedroia who had won the game against the Rays about 20 hours earlier with an RBI single. The double, like the single, was to the opposite field. It came off Mark Worrell, a righthander with a funky sidearm delivery.
“It’s tough. I was tired and I’m sure everyone else was,’’ Pedroia said. “We’re just all trying to win the game. That’s what we get paid to do. We’re trying to go play the game right and whatever situation comes up in the game, we have to respond to it.’’
Once they had the lead, the Sox poured it on against the leaky Baltimore bullpen. Youkilis had a two-run single, Carl Crawford an RBI single, and McDonald a three-run double. By the end of the eighth, the stands held predominantly Red Sox fans.
Crawford was 2 for 5 with two runs in his return from the disabled list. That his strained left hamstring has healed was obvious when he scored from first on McDonald’s double.
“That pretty much tested everything,’’ Crawford said. “I feel good.’’
The Sox have won seven straight against the Orioles, scoring 61 runs in the process. At 58-36, the Sox are challenging the 59-36 Phillies for the best record in baseball.
The outburst last night came without David Ortiz, who started a three-game suspension for his role in a brawl between the Sox and Orioles earlier this month.
“This is an amazing team,’’ Wheeler said. “One way or another, our lineup scores a lot of runs.’’
