Chris Young Leads Red Sox To 5-4 Win Over Cardinals In 13 Innings
By The Sports Xchange | Box Score
ST. LOUIS -- Pinch hitter Chris Young broke a 4-4 tie with an RBI single in the 13th inning Wednesday night to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The winning rally started with two outs when Mitch Moreland hit a ground-rule double off reliever Sam Tuivailala (2-1). Jackie Bradley Jr. was intentionally walked before Young, batting for pitcher Fernando Abad (1-0), lined a single to left to score Moreland.
Abad, the seventh reliever used by the Red Sox in the game, pitched two hitless innings, allowing one walk. Ben Taylor pitched the bottom of the 13th to earn his first major league save.
The Cardinals staked Mike Leake to a 4-0 lead two innings into the game, jumping on Rick Porcello for five hits in the first two innings. However, St. Louis could not add on, opening the door for the Red Sox comeback.
Leake shut out the Red Sox for the first six innings before Bradley cut the deficit to 4-2 with his second homer in as many nights in the seventh.
Trevor Rosenthal, who had not given up a run in seven appearances this month, relieved Leake and allowed Boston to tie the game in the eighth. Xander Bogaerts followed a Dustin Pedroia walk with his second triple of the game, and Bogaerts scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Benintendi.
Benintendi was 0-for-3 in the game before the game-tying sacrifice fly, extending his streak without a hit to his last 24 consecutive at-bats. The streak reached 26 consecutive at-bats when he grounded out to end the 10th with runners on first and second and flied to left in the 13th.
Dexter Fowler gave the Cardinals a quick lead when he hit Porcello's third pitch of the game for a home run, his fifth of the season.
Porcello ran into more trouble in the second, when the Cardinals increased the lead to 4-0 with a three-run inning. Consecutive hits by Yadier Molina (double), Aledmys Diaz, Magneuris Sierra and Kolten Wong (double) produced the first two runs before an RBI groundout from Tommy Pham capped the inning.
Sierra's single allowed him to tie the Cardinals' record for most consecutive games with at least one hit to begin his career at seven, a mark first set by Enos Slaughter in 1938 and later equaled by Terry Pendleton in 1984 and Bo Hart in 2003.
Leake gave up two runs in seven innings, while Porcello allowed four runs in six innings.
NOTES: Red Sox 3B Pablo Sandoval will DH for Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday night as he attempts to work his way back from a sprained right knee that has kept him on the disabled list since April 25. ... RHP Hector Velazquez will be called up from Pawtucket to make his major league debut for the Red Sox on Thursday night in Oakland. A corresponding roster move has not been announced. ... The Cardinals had a pregame ceremony honoring the 50th anniversary of the 1967 team that defeated the Red Sox in the World Series. ... After a day off Thursday, the Cardinals will send RHP Michael Wacha to the mound Friday night against the San Francisco Giants. He did not start in the last turn through the rotation to give him extra rest and he will be making his first start since May 7.