GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: TEXAS (34-47) at BOSTON (49-31)

AL: TEXAS at BOSTON

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
TEXAS 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 5 0
BOSTON 0 0 3 1 3 0 0 0 x 7 10 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: TEX - BRANDON MCCARTHY, WILLIE EYRE (4TH), JOAQUIN BENOIT (8TH) AND
GERALD LAIRD

BOS - KASON GABBARD, MIKE TIMLIN (6TH), JAVIER LOPEZ
(7TH), KYLE SNYDER (8TH), HIDEKI OKAJIMA (9TH) AND JASON
VARITEK


WP - KASON GABBARD (2-0)
LP - BRANDON MCCARTHY (4-5)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: TEX - BRAD WILKERSON (10) OFF KASON GABBARD IN THE 5TH, 2 ON

BOS - NONE


TIME: 3:18 ATT: 36,778

PROBABLES: TAM - SCOTT KAZMIR (5-4, 4.26)
BOS - DAISUKE MATSUZAKA (9-5, 3.80)

PROBABLES: LAA - ERVIN SANTANA (5-8, 5.27)
TEX - KEVIN MILLWOOD (4-7, 7.06)</div>

 

AL: TEXAS at BOSTON

<div class="pre">TEXAS (3) VS BOSTON (7) - FINAL

TEXAS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
K Lofton cf 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 .302
R Vazquez 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250
D Relaford 2b-lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .000
M Young ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .292
S Sosa dh 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .251
M Byrd rf-cf 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 .373
V Diaz lf-rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .250
G Laird c 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 .231
B Wilkerson 1b 4 1 1 3 0 2 0 .222
T Metcalf 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .195

Totals 31 3 5 3 4 6 10

BATTING: 2B - M Byrd (7, K Gabbard); T Metcalf (3, M Timlin). HR - B Wilkerson
(10, 5th inning off K Gabbard 2 on, 1 Out). RBI - B Wilkerson 3 (33). Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - K Lofton 1, D Relaford 1, V Diaz 2. Team LOB
- 6.

BASERUNNING: CS - D Relaford (1, 2nd base by K Gabbard/J Varitek).

FIELDING: DP: 1 (D Relaford-B Wilkerson).


BOSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Lugo ss 2 0 0 0 2 0 5 .189
D Pedroia 2b 5 1 1 2 0 2 2 .320
D Ortiz dh 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 .312
M Ramirez lf 4 1 2 1 1 0 2 .288
J Drew rf 2 1 0 0 3 1 1 .257
M Lowell 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 .292
J Varitek c 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 .270
E Hinske 1b 4 1 2 3 0 1 2 .218
J Ellsbury cf 2 2 2 0 2 0 0 .300

Totals 32 7 10 6 8 5 17

BATTING: 2B - D Pedroia (20, B McCarthy); M Ramirez (18, B McCarthy); J Varitek
(9, W Eyre). 3B - E Hinske (2, W Eyre). S - J Lugo. RBI - D Pedroia 2 (25), M
Ramirez (44), E Hinske 3 (11). 2-out RBI - M Ramirez, E Hinske 3. Runners left
in scoring position, 2 out - M Lowell 1, J Lugo 3, D Pedroia 1. GIDP - M
Ramirez. Team LOB - 10.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Ellsbury (1, 2nd base off B McCarthy/G Laird).


----------------------------------------------------
TEXAS - 000 030 000 -- 3
BOSTON - 003 130 00x -- 7
----------------------------------------------------

TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era
B McCarthy (L, 4-5) 3 2/3 6 4 4 3 1 0 6.17
W Eyre 3 1/3 3 3 3 5 1 0 3.68
J Benoit 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 3.35

BOSTON ip h r er bb so hr era
K Gabbard (W, 2-0) 5 2/3 3 3 3 4 5 1 5.79
M Timlin 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5.59
J Lopez 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.05
K Snyder 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.40
H Okajima 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.88

WP - W Eyre. HBP - M Byrd (by K Snyder). Pitches-strikes: B McCarthy 81-47; W
Eyre 83-42; J Benoit 17-12; K Gabbard 100-53; M Timlin 18-10; J Lopez 4-3; K
Snyder 19-13; H Okajima 14-10. Ground balls-fly balls: B McCarthy 5-5; W Eyre
4-5; J Benoit 0-0; K Gabbard 5-6; M Timlin 3-0; J Lopez 1-0; K Snyder 1-2; H
Okajima 1-1. Batters faced: B McCarthy 19; W Eyre 18; J Benoit 4; K Gabbard 23;
M Timlin 4; J Lopez 1; K Snyder 5; H Okajima 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Brian Gorman. 1B--Paul Nauert. 2B--Chad Fairchild. 3B--Gerry
Davis.

T--3:18. Att--36,778.
Weather: 71 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 13 mph, out
to right.</div>

 

Hinske, Gabbard help Red Sox salvage split against Rangers

<h3>BOSTON 7, TEXAS 3</h3>BOSTON (Ticker) -- Even the best teams in baseball get solidproduction from unexpected sources.

Eric Hinske hit a bases-clearing triple in the fifth and rookieKason Gabbard pitched into the sixth inning for the first timethis season, helping the Boston Red Sox post a 7-3 victory overthe Texas Rangers on Monday, managing a split of the four-gameseries with the win.

With two outs and the Red Sox clinging to a 4-3 lead, Hinskelined a three-run triple to center over the head of Rangerscenter fielder Kenny Lofton to increase the Boston advantage to7-3. The triple was his first since April 14 and the three RBIalready matches a season high in a month for the 2002 Rookie ofthe Year Award winner.

Gabbard, filling in for injured ace Curt Schilling, held Texashitless through 4 1/3 innings. The 25-year-old went aseason-long 5 2/3 innings, yielding three runs and three hitswith four walks and five strikeouts.

The lefthander only experienced one rough stretch over his100-pitch outing, surrendering Brad Wilkerson's three-run blastin the top of the fifth after allowing a lead-off walk to MarlonByrd and a single to Gerald Laird.

The 7-8-9 hitters in the Boston batting order - Jason Varitek,Hinske and rookie Jacoby Ellsbury - each had two hits and scoredfour times for the Red Sox, who have won just one of their lastfour home series despite being the majors' second team to win50 games.

Texas starter Brandon McCarthy (4-5), who was making his firststart since June 9 due to a stint on the disabled list with ablister on his right middle finger, surrendered four runs andsix hits with three walks over 3 1/3 innings.

With the loss, the Rangers saw an end to a stretch in which theyhad won four consecutive series and five of their last six.

 

AL: TEXAS at BOSTON

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
TEXAS 3
BOSTON 7 FINAL</div>

 

AL: TEXAS at BOSTON

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEXAS (3) AT BOSTON (7) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOSTON 3RD: E Hinske singled to right center. J Ellsbury reached on
infield single to second, E Hinske to second. J Lugo sacrificed to third,
E Hinske to third, J Ellsbury to second. D Pedroia doubled to deep right,
E Hinske and J Ellsbury scored. D Ortiz grounded out to second, D Pedroia to
third. M Ramirez doubled to deep center, D Pedroia scored. J Drew walked.
M Lowell flied out to right. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, BOSTON 3.

BOSTON 4TH: J Varitek grounded out to shortstop. E Hinske popped out to
shortstop. J Ellsbury singled to right. J Ellsbury stole second. J Lugo
walked. W Eyre relieved B McCarthy. J Ellsbury scored, J Lugo to third on wild
pitch by W Eyre. D Pedroia lined out to first. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0,
BOSTON 4.

TEXAS 5TH: M Byrd walked. V Diaz struck out swinging. G Laird singled to
left, M Byrd to second. B Wilkerson homered to right, M Byrd and G Laird
scored. T Metcalf walked. K Lofton grounded out to pitcher, T Metcalf to
second. D Relaford popped out to shortstop. (3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3,
BOSTON 4.

BOSTON 5TH: D Ortiz flied out to right. M Ramirez walked. J Drew walked,
M Ramirez to second. M Lowell flied out to left. J Varitek singled to left,
M Ramirez to third, J Drew to second. E Hinske tripled to deep center,
M Ramirez, J Drew and J Varitek scored. J Ellsbury walked. J Lugo grounded out
to third. (3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, BOSTON 7.</div>

 

AL: TEXAS at BOSTON

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEXAS (3) AT BOSTON (7) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Texas Starting Lineups -- K Lofton CF, D Relaford 2B, M Young SS, S Sosa DH,
M Byrd RF, V Diaz LF, G Laird C, B Wilkerson 1B, T Metcalf 3B, B McCarthy RHP.

Boston Starting Lineups -- J Lugo SS, D Pedroia 2B, D Ortiz DH, M Ramirez LF,
J Drew RF, M Lowell 3B, J Varitek C, E Hinske 1B, J Ellsbury CF, K Gabbard LHP.

Umpires -- Brian Gorman (HP), Paul Nauert (1B), Chad Fairchild (2B), Gerry Davis (3B).

Gametime Weather: 71 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind out to right at 13 mph.


TEXAS 1ST: K Lofton walked. D Relaford popped out to shortstop. M Young
grounded into fielder's choice to third, K Lofton out at second. S Sosa
grounded into fielder's choice to second, M Young out at second. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, BOSTON 0.

BOSTON 1ST: J Lugo walked. D Pedroia struck out swinging. D Ortiz singled
to center, J Lugo to second. M Ramirez grounded into double play, second to
first, D Ortiz out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, BOSTON 0.

TEXAS 2ND: M Byrd flied out to center. V Diaz grounded out to second.
G Laird struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, BOSTON 0.

BOSTON 2ND: J Drew fouled out to catcher. M Lowell flied out to left.
J Varitek popped out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, BOSTON 0.

TEXAS 3RD: B Wilkerson struck out swinging. T Metcalf grounded out to
catcher. K Lofton flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0,
BOSTON 0.

BOSTON 3RD: E Hinske singled to right center. J Ellsbury reached on
infield single to second, E Hinske to second. J Lugo sacrificed to third,
E Hinske to third, J Ellsbury to second. D Pedroia doubled to deep right,
E Hinske and J Ellsbury scored. D Ortiz grounded out to second, D Pedroia to
third. M Ramirez doubled to deep center, D Pedroia scored. J Drew walked.
M Lowell flied out to right. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, BOSTON 3.

TEXAS 4TH: D Relaford walked. D Relaford caught stealing second, catcher
to second. M Young lined out to shortstop. S Sosa struck out swinging.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, BOSTON 3.

BOSTON 4TH: J Varitek grounded out to shortstop. E Hinske popped out to
shortstop. J Ellsbury singled to right. J Ellsbury stole second. J Lugo
walked. W Eyre relieved B McCarthy. J Ellsbury scored, J Lugo to third on wild
pitch by W Eyre. D Pedroia lined out to first. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0,
BOSTON 4.

TEXAS 5TH: M Byrd walked. V Diaz struck out swinging. G Laird singled to
left, M Byrd to second. B Wilkerson homered to right, M Byrd and G Laird
scored. T Metcalf walked. K Lofton grounded out to pitcher, T Metcalf to
second. D Relaford popped out to shortstop. (3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3,
BOSTON 4.

BOSTON 5TH: D Ortiz flied out to right. M Ramirez walked. J Drew walked,
M Ramirez to second. M Lowell flied out to left. J Varitek singled to left,
M Ramirez to third, J Drew to second. E Hinske tripled to deep center,
M Ramirez, J Drew and J Varitek scored. J Ellsbury walked. J Lugo grounded out
to third. (3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, BOSTON 7.

TEXAS 6TH: M Young flied out to center. S Sosa struck out looking. M Byrd
doubled to deep left. M Timlin relieved K Gabbard. V Diaz grounded out to
shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, BOSTON 7.

BOSTON 6TH: D Pedroia lined out to pitcher. D Ortiz grounded out to
pitcher. M Ramirez grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3,
BOSTON 7.

TEXAS 7TH: G Laird grounded out to shortstop. B Wilkerson grounded out to
first. T Metcalf doubled to left. J Lopez relieved M Timlin. K Lofton
grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, BOSTON 7.

BOSTON 7TH: J Drew walked. M Lowell popped out to shortstop. J Varitek
hit a ground rule double to deep right, J Drew to third. E Hinske struck out
swinging. J Ellsbury walked. J Lugo grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) TEXAS 3, BOSTON 7.

TEXAS 8TH: K Snyder relieved J Lopez. D Relaford grounded out to second.
M Young reached on infield single to third. S Sosa flied out to center. M Byrd
hit by pitch, M Young to second. V Diaz flied out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) TEXAS 3, BOSTON 7.

BOSTON 8TH: J Benoit relieved W Eyre. R Vazquez at second base. D Relaford
in left field. M Byrd in center field. V Diaz in right field. D Pedroia struck
out swinging. D Ortiz struck out swinging. M Ramirez singled to center.
J Drew struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, BOSTON 7.

TEXAS 9TH: H Okajima relieved K Snyder. G Laird grounded out to shortstop.
B Wilkerson struck out looking. T Metcalf flied out to center. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, BOSTON 7.</div>

 

Hinske, Gabbard help Red Sox salvage split against Rangers

<h3>BOSTON 7, TEXAS 3</h3>BOSTON (Ticker) -- Even the best teams in baseball get solidproduction from unexpected sources.

Eric Hinske hit a bases-clearing triple in the fifth inning androokie Kason Gabbard pitched into the sixth for the first timethis season, helping the Boston Red Sox post a 7-3 victory overthe Texas Rangers on Monday and earn a split of the four-gameseries.

With two outs and the Red Sox clinging to a 4-3 lead, Hinske,who did not discover he was getting the start until afternoonbatting practice, lined a three-run triple to center over thehead of Rangers center fielder Kenny Lofton to increase theadvantage to 7-3.

"I was just looking for a pitch out over the plate, Hinske said."I got a good pitch to hit. I got in a hitters' count, thatwas big. He threw two cutters inside. It was a 2-0 pitch and Ijust put a good swing on a pitch down and barreled it up. Thatwas big for us."

The triple was his first since April 14 and the three RBIalready matches a season high in a month for the 2002 AL Rookieof the Year.

"It was a great swing but from where I was sitting, we didn'tsee the ball come down right away," Red Sox manager TerryFrancona said. "(Lofton's) body was kind of shielding it and Iknow he got close. It was three big runs, obviously. It's niceto be rewarded for a good swing, especially with the basesloaded."

Gabbard, filling in for injured ace Curt Schilling, held Texashitless through 4 1/3 innings.

"Honestly, when you're out there pitching, it goes by so fastand you're just trying to do your job and get your team back outthere to bat as soon as possible," Gabbard said. "The crowdjust never stops. It is the best crowd, obviously, you want toplay in front of and they are in the game the whole time."

The 25-year-old went a season-high 5 2/3 innings, yielding threeruns and three hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

"I felt a lot better than I did last game," Gabbard said. "Ithink I had a little bit more command of my two-seamer, myfastball (inside) and my changeup was there like it usually isand I threw some pretty good breaking stuff."

The lefthander only experienced one rough stretch over his100-pitch outing, surrendering Brad Wilkerson's three-run homerin the top of the fifth after allowing a leadoff walk to MarlonByrd and a single to Gerald Laird.

"Early in the game, he wasn't throwing (his breaking ball) forstrikes and we were chasing it," Rangers manager Ron Washingtonsaid. "I don't know if it was his changeup or not that wasthrowing us off a little bit. Finally, he hung a breaking ballto Wilkerson and we got back into the game but we couldn't stoptheir charge."

The 7-8-9 hitters in the Boston batting order - Jason Varitek,Hinske and rookie Jacoby Ellsbury - each had two hits and scoredfour times for the Red Sox, who have won just one of their lastfour home series despite being the majors' second team to win50 games.

The speedy Ellsbury provided the game's most exciting moment,scoring from second base on a wild pitch from Willie Eyre in thefourth that eluded catcher Laird and rolled all the way to thecorner of the Rangers' third base dugout.

"That's the first time I've ever scored from second but I'vegone first to third (base) a few times," said Ellsbury, who wasplaying in just his third big league game. "I saw the wildpitch early and I went for it. I saw (third base coach) DeMarloHale waving me but I think I was already by him."

Hinske, who took the place of Kevin Youkilis in the lineup, didnot find out until late in the afternoon that he would bestarting. Youkilis missed the contest due to a strained leftquadriceps.

Texas starter Brandon McCarthy (4-5), who was making his firststart since June 9 due to a stint on the disabled list with ablister on his right middle finger, surrendered four runs andsix hits with three walks over 3 1/3 innings.

"(My) finger felt fine and everything felt fine physically andthat makes it a little bit more disappointing," McCarthy said."It's just when you feel that good you wish you could put thingstogether and find a way to battle through that."

"Mac had been off for a while and just had trouble locating,"Washington said. "When you have trouble locating against thatteam, they're going to make you pitch. They made us throw a lotof pitches tonight. That's their forte and that's what theydid."

With the loss, the Rangers saw an end to a stretch in which theyhad won four consecutive series and five of their last six.