Kevin Youkilis’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning plated Marco Scutaro and gave the Boston Red Sox a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.
Youkilis provided the tying run in the bottom of the ninth as well, doubling Scutaro in from third base off Cliff Lee.
Alexi Ogando (3-1) walked Scutaro leading off the 11th and then threw the ball into center field attempting to gun Scutaro down at second on a sacrifice bunt by Darnell McDonald. The Rangers elected to walk David Ortiz intentionally before bringing on Darren O’Day to face Youkilis, who drove a fly ball to deep center field to push across the winning run.
Lee looked like a lock for his first win as a Ranger, allowing one hit in innings two through eight and carrying a one-run lead into the ninth with just 85 pitches thrown. But something happened on the way to Lee’s seventh complete game of the season, as Scutaro led off the ninth with a single, moved to second on a bunt, moved up to third on a groundout and came into to score the tying run on Youkilis’ RBI double down the left-field line.
Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz each drove in a run for the Rangers.
Texas | Boston | |
Cliff Lee | Player | John Lackey |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
9.0 | IP | 7.0 |
6 | Strikeouts | 3 |
6 | Hits | 7 |
2.00 | ERA | 2.57 |
Texas | Boston | |
Nelson Cruz | Player | Kevin Youkilis |
2 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 2 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 3 |
.500 | Avg | .500 |