This One's For Remy by Jared Carrabis
Sox hand a record-setting beat down to the Tribe


With Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz sitting on the bench due to day-to-day injuries, their match up with the Cleveland Indians was surely in the Tribe's favor. Good thing this offense doesn't rely on just one bat.

In the sixth inning of Thursday's match up between the Red Sox and Indians, the Boston offense knocked a record-setting twelve runs across home plate before an out was recorded. The twelve runs scored by the Red Sox with not a single out being recorded set an American League record, and tied the Major League record that was set by the Brooklyn Dodgers way back on May 24, 1953.

"It was crazy," said Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell. "Twelve runs, let alone 12 guys getting on base [without an out], that's kind of ridiculous. I just think it's one of those fluke things. We put together a lot of good at-bats. It was nice to blow the game open."

Had it not been for the twelve-run bottom of the sixth inning, the Red Sox would have dropped this game by a score of 3-1. With the addition of the twelve-run rampage, the Boston offense led the Sox to a ten-run victory.

"That's what makes tonight's win big for us," said Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. "A lot of our everyday guys were out of the lineup and we still found a way to score a lot of runs. That's big for us."

The best part about Boston's dozen-run rally was that they piled on the pain while Tim Wakefield was still the pitcher of record. Wakefield fluttered his knuckleball towards home plate for six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on just four hits. With Wakefield trailing by a 2-1 score entering the bottom of the sixth inning, Boston's offensive explosion credited him with his well deserved fourth win of 2009. The right-hander stuck out three batters, while improving his record to 4-1 and keeping his ERA under three, as it currently sits at 2.93.

"It's definitely something you don't see every day," said Bay. "Kind of the biggest thing was we did it while Wake was still the pitcher of record, and he pitched well, so he deserved to get a win, so it was nice to do it while he was still in there."

Although Wakefield walked four batters, the Indians grounded into two double plays, left eight men on base and went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. "I felt really good tonight, the ball had good movement," Wakefield said. "I feel very confident. I've been getting deep in games. That's my job here as the fourth or fifth starter."

The sixth inning madness began with a base hit by Julio Lugo, who was 3-for-5 on the night. After a five-pitch walk to Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay ripped his sixth double of the season to center field to drive in Lugo. Tribe manager, Eric Wedge, decided to throw down four fingers and intentionally walk Mike Lowell to walk the basis for Rocco Baldelli, who was fresh of the disabled list. With a 1-2 count, Baldelli shot a base hit into center field to drive in both Pedroia and Bay.

Keeping the line moving, JD Drew walked on six pitches. After a pitching change, Jeff Bailey ripped his first double of the season down the left field line, as Lowell and Baldelli scored to increase Boston's lead. Nick Green then singled to keep the no-out rally alive. With the bases reloaded, George Kottaras cranked a single into center field to plate two more Boston runs in Drew and Bailey.

As Boston batted around, Julio Lugo singled for the second time in the inning to load the bases once again. Dustin Pedroia poked a two-seam fastball into left field that brought both Nick Green and George Kottaras across home plate. After the second pitching change of the inning, Jason Bay connected for an opposite field home run. The three-run shot for Bay was his eighth home run of the season. Bay drove in four runs on the night, upping his RBI total to 28 runs batted in.

The Red Sox then recorded three consecutive outs to retire the side, but when it was all said and done, twelve runs had crossed home plate and that's all the bullpen needed to secure a victory. The combination of Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez and Takashi Saito out of the bullpen locked down a 13-3 stomping of the Cleveland Indians.

"It was nice," said Lugo. "Every time you have an inning like that, everybody is happy -- fans, coaches, teammates. Everybody was hitting the ball."

Indians' starter, Jeremy Sowers, commented after the game in regards to Boston's historic sixth inning by saying, "They were too comfortable," Sowers said. "Baseball is about momentum. There is a lot of momentum involved in this game, and unfortunately for 12 straight hitters, we just couldn't seem to get them to falter." Too comfortable? Ya think? After plating thirteen runs in the game started by Tim Wakefield, the Red Sox have raised their average to 7.8 runs scored per game that has been started by the knuckleballer.

The Red Sox now welcome the Tampa Bay Rays to Fenway Park for the second time this season. For the Red Sox, they seem to dominate every team except for Tampa Bay, and for the Rays, they seem to lose to every team except for Boston. The Red Sox send Brad Penny to the mound on Friday night in hopes of reversing this frustrating trend.

In Penny's last start, he picked up his first lost of the season, however, he racked up a season-high eight strikeouts, while giving up just three earned runs in six innings. If Penny can replicate his previous outing, or even outdo himself, the Red Sox should be in a position to win this game. James Shields will be opposing Penny on Friday night. In his career at Fenway Park, Shields is 0-4 with a 9.56 ERA during the regular season in four starts, allowing three home runs. His four losses are the most losses at any road park and his 9.56 ERA his the highest among all road parks in the American League for Shields, just sayin'.

-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Indians 3, Red Sox 13

Published on May 08, 2009

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