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MIKE CARP |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
The Red Sox blow out Texas
with 17 runs
June 4, 2013 ...
In a 17-5 win over the Texas Rangers in which the Red Sox had 19 hits, David Ortiz, who had already doubled high off the left-field wall, crushed a ball into the right-center-field gap. He hadn't tripled in more than two years, and while he started running at a decent pace, he
showed no sign of urgency, as if the triple was such an evasive result for a 37-year-old with a recent foot injury that the mere thought of it was exhausting.
But then the ball scooted past center fielder Leonys Martin and right fielder Nelson Cruz, the crowd started to roar and Ortiz took notice. Suddenly the 6-foot-4, 230-pound designated hitter went from jog to sprint. His quick feet churning beneath powerful legs,
Ortiz rounded second and looked for third, slamming into the dirt as he slid toward the bag for his first triple since April 11, 2011.
Ortiz hardly had time to wipe the dirt off his pants before Mike Napoli sent the first pitch he saw high into the air in left field. Ortiz tagged from third, crossed home plate and took a few steps before halting his movement completely. It was that kind of
night for the Red Sox. A look up and down the order reveals a whole lot of tally marks as the Sox jumped all over the rookie Grimm, scoring eight runs in 1 2/3 innings before he was removed.
The Red Sox scored runs in each of the first seven innings, as their 13 extra-base hits set a Rangers record for most allowed. Mike Carp was 3-for-4 with his fourth homer before getting ejected in the eighth after striking out against Rangers outfielder
David Murphy, who was on the mound to save the bullpen. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 3-for-5 with his sixth homer. And Stephen Drew, who had gone hitless in 13 of his previous 20 games before Tuesday, went 4-for-5 with his fifth home run. Jackie
Bradley Jr., whose time with the club could be short as Shane Victorino nears a return from the disabled list, hit his first Major League home run, a towering shot into the right-field bullpen.
On the mound, Ryan Dempster was able to minimize damage, pitching seven strong innings while allowing three runs on five hits and one walk, striking out six. Dempster spent the final two months of the 2012 season with the Rangers, posting a 5.09 ERA over 12 starts
before leaving for free agency, where the Red Sox plucked him for two years, $26.5-million.
They Sox erupted for their largest scoring outburst since hanging 18 on the Orioles two years ago. They hadn't racked up as many extra-base hits since 1990 against the Tigers and they hadn't done it at Fenway since 1950, when they smacked 17 extra-base hits
against the St. Louis Browns. |
