Crawford's Slam Helps Red Sox Beat Rangers 12-7
BOSTON (AP) -- The Red Sox had managed all of two runs during a brief two-game skid.
The offensive drought ended with flurry, though, as Boston scored eight times in the fourth inning Saturday, including a grand slam by Carl Crawford, in a 12-7 win over the Texas Rangers.
"That was our inning to hit and luckily nobody missed pitches," said Josh Reddick, who had two of his career-high four hits in the fourth.
Reddick led off with a single and scored right away when Jarrod Saltalamacchia followed with a home run. The Red Sox added six more hits in 13 at-bats, highlighted by Crawford's two-out slam to right.
The big inning gave Erik Bedard (5-9) more than enough run support to get his first win as a member of the Red Sox.
After the left-hander came over in a trade with Seattle, the Red Sox averaged just 3.3 runs in his first three starts, but they gave him plenty of help this time. By the time the fourth inning was over, Boston had a 9-3 cushion.
"Bedard came out and gave us a strong start," Reddick said. "He got roughed up a little bit early, but luckily this lineup doesn't give up and came back there and pounded the ball."
Bedard went six innings, allowing three runs and five hits. He walked four and struck out six.
Dustin Pedroia barely missed a grand slam, hitting a shot high off the center-field wall with the bases loaded in the sixth as the Red Sox tagged six Texas pitchers for 16 hits.
Adrian Beltre drove in two runs and Esteban German hit a solo homer, his first of the season, to open the ninth for Texas.
Colby Lewis (11-10) lasted only 3 1-3 innings, allowing four runs and seven hits. He was pulled shortly after Saltalamacchia's homer to left tied it 3-all in the fourth.
"The man couldn't get the ball down. If you keep giving these guys an opportunity with runners in scoring position, sooner or later they'll come through and they really did," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "In the fourth inning we just couldn't stop the bleeding. He just couldn't get the ball down."
Rangers reliever Yoshinori Tateyama didn't fare any better. He threw three straight balls to Adrian Gonzalez, the last of which got past catcher Yorvit Torrealba and allowed Pedroia to move to second. The Rangers intentionally walked Gonzalez with the next pitch.
Kevin Youkilis lined out to right, but Tateyama had more control problems and threw a wild pitch that allowed Pedroia to go to third. Texas went ahead and walked David Ortiz intentionally, loading the bases with two outs.
Pinch-hitter Mike Aviles singled to right and Boston took a 4-3 lead.
"That was the one we needed right there," Washington said. "Aviles fought off a few pitches and got it into right field."
That left the bases loaded for Crawford, who drove a 1-0 pitch deep into the seats in right.
Reddick followed with his second single of the inning. Saltalamacchia singled and Jacoby Ellsbury drove in Reddick with an infield single for Boston's eighth run of the fourth.
Reddick's chance at a fifth hit ended when he was hit by a pitch on his wrist in the eighth.
Boston manager Terry Francona said X-rays didn't show any break, but he expected Reddick to be a little sore on Sunday.
"So many times he's given us such a lift," Francona said. "That's hard for young players to do that."
Bedard looked to be in trouble early when Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton hit back-to-back singles, putting runners at first and third with one out. Michael Young followed with a hard line drive, but it was right to Gonzalez at first. He made the catch and trotted to the bag to complete a double play.
Gonzalez had his second unassisted double play in the fourth when Texas tried a suicide squeeze. Craig Gentry popped up the bunt and Gonzalez caught it on the run, then just had to tag Torrealba at the plate.
Young and David Murphy had RBI singles for the Rangers. Beltre added a fielder's choice that put Texas up 3-0 in the third.
Hamilton hit an RBI single in the eighth and Texas scored three times, cutting the margin to 12-6.
NOTES: RHP John Lackey pitches for Boston on Sunday in his first start since his three-game winning streak ended with a 5-2 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday. LHP Matt Harrison is scheduled to pitch for Texas, 10 days since his last start. He did pitch two innings of relief against Tampa Bay on Wednesday. ... Ortiz hit Boston's other grand slam this season on July 27 against Kansas City. ... Saltalamacchia was credited with his first major league steal when he took second during Boston's big fourth inning. ... Youkilis hit a foul ball into the stands, where a vendor used an empty tub to bounce it to a fan in the fourth. ... Hamilton struck out swinging and lost his grip on the bat, launching it several rows up into the seats. The fan who caught the bat appeared to be OK. ... A fan delayed the game in the seventh when he jumped from the stands and ran from left field all the way to the warning track in right-center, where he was tackled by a security guard and then escorted from the field in handcuffs.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
