Ortiz Homers, Red Sox Beat Rangers 11-6
BOSTON -- First-time All-Star Steven Wright won his 10th game and David Ortiz ripped his 20th home run of the season and drove in three runs, powering the Boston Red Sox to an 11-6 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.
In winning the rubber game of the three-game series handing the road-weary Rangers their fourth loss in their last five games, the Red Sox cashed in on three infield errors by Texas in a five-run second inning (four unearned) after Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the first.
Wright (10-5), one of six Red Sox named to the American league All-Star team on Tuesday, won his second straight start. He worked six-plus innings in his final start before Tuesday's All-Star Game in San Diego.
Ahead 11-1, Wright gave up a long two-run homer to Prince Fielder in the sixth inning and a booming two-run triple to All-Star Ian Desmond to knock him out in the seventh.
Craig Kimbrel, used for a second straight night in a non-save situation and coming off a Tuesday night disaster worked a hitless ninth. He walked two after getting the first two outs before ending the game with his second strikeouts.
Ortiz, also an All-Star, now has 69 RBIs for the season.
Bryce Brentz also drove in three runs, Ryan Hanigan singled home two and All-Star Mookie Betts posted a pair of doubles and drove in his 58th run as a leadoff hitter.
Left-hander Martin Perez (7-5) was the victim of errors on rather routine grounders by Rougned Odor, Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus in the nightmarish second inning.
Perez lost for the first time since May 18 and saw a six-game winning streak end. The first-place Rangers had been 8-0 in his previous eight starts.
Texas finished a 10-game road trip with a 4-6 record and concluded a stretch of 20 out of 26 games on the road. The Rangers go home for four and then come out of the break with nine more road games.
The Red Sox are 4-2 on their current nine-game homestand, scoring 38 runs in the four wins and four in the two losses.
Boston third baseman Travis Shaw left the game in the eighth inning with a left foot contusion and will have x-rays on Thursday.
Fielder's homer was the 319th of his career, matching the total run up by his father, Cecil.
Ortiz reached the 20-home run mark for the 15th straight season when he drilled a 3-2 pitch for a no-doubter after Xander Bogaerts singled with two out in the first.
Dustin Pedroia, who is one of five players vying for the final American League All-Star spot, made his fourth error at second base to start the Texas second as Beltre reached second. He wound up scoring on Nomar Mazara?s single.
A walk to Jackie Bradley Jr. and back-to-back errors by Odor and Beltre loaded the bases with nobody out in the second. Hanigan, in his first at-bat since June 4, singled in a pair and Betts made it 5-1 with a ringing double. Andrus completed an error hat trick as another run scored and Ortiz made it 7-1 with a sacrifice fly.
It was 11-1 when the Rangers, running on fumes with a tired bullpen, finally pulled Perez after four innings.
NOTES: RF Shin-Soo Choo, who left Tuesday night's game with lower back stiffness, was held out of the lineup by "cautious" manager Jeff Banister, who was also without 1B Mitch Moreland (calf) for the fourth straight game. ... The Rangers recalled OF Jared Hoying from Triple-A Round Rock and placed C Bryan Holaday on the disabled list with a bruised left thumb. ... Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia was in third place in the initial fan voting for the final spot on the AL All-Star team. ... RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez, chased in the first inning of his start against the Twins in Minneapolis last weekend, faces the same team as the Rangers open a four-game homestand Thursday night. ... The Red Sox are off Thursday and open a three-game weekend series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. ... Boston C Ryan Hanigan returned from his rehab assignment and caught knuckleballer Steven Wright.
