GARCIAPARRA GOES DEEP 3 TIMES AS BOSOX ROUT RANGERS
Ramirez Homers Twice
BOSTON, May 14 (AP) - Nomar Garciaparra hit three home runs, doubled and drove
in six as the red hot Boston Red Sox whipped the Texas Rangers, 11-6, at Fenway
Park. Manny Ramirez added a pair of solo long balls and a double of his
own as the Red Sox pounded out a total of 17 hits with every member of the
lineup collecting at least one safety. The Rangers hit four home runs
themselves but it wasn't nearly enough. Three of the Texas roundtrippers
came in the ninth inning which the Rangers entered trailing by eight runs.
Boston seized control of the game with four runs in the bottom of the first
inning off of Rangers starter Joaquin Benoit (0-2). Johnny Damon led off
the frame with a double and Todd Walker followed by drawing a free pass.
Garciaparra then hit his first home run of the contest, over the Green Monster,
for a 3-0 Red Sox advantage. Ramirez followed with a solo shot into the
Monster seats and Boston held a four-run lead.
But the Rangers answered with three in the top of the third, with all the action
taking place with two outs. Carl Everett lined a single to center off Red
Sox starter Casey Fossum and rode home when Mark Teixeira crushed his eighth
home run of the season. Alex Rodriguez followed with a single to left and
scored when Juan Gonzalez doubled to right-center.
The Red Sox extended their lead with two in fifth. Ramirez led off with
his second home run of the game, upping the Boston advantage to two runs and,
one out later, Shea Hillenbrand singled. After Trot Nixon flied out, Bill
Mueller lined a ball into the right-center field gap. Hillenbrand scored
but Mueller was thrown out at third to end the frame with Boston on top, 6-3.
The Red Sox effectively blew the game open with three more runs in the
sixth. Doug Mirabelli led off with a double and, one out later, Walker
tripled off the Monster, scoring Mirabelli to make it 7-3. Garciaparra
then drilled his second home run of the game to put Boston ahead, 9-3.
Mirabelli's RBI double in the seventh increased the Red Sox advantage to seven
runs and Garciaparra's third home run of the game leading off the eighth capped
Boston's scoring.
The Rangers hit three solo home runs off Bruce Chen as he mopped up in the
ninth--off the bats of Gonzalez, Herbert Perry and Donnie Sadler--but it was
little more than padding of individual statistics.
The three-homer game makes Garciaparra the first major leaguer to accomplish the
feat twice this season. The Boston shortstop turned the trick on April 18
in a win over Toronto, also at Fenway Park. The only other big league
player to hit three home runs in a game thus far this season is Jose Guillen of
the Cincinnati Reds, who did so on April 10 at Houston.
The Red Sox have a major league best record of 32-7 and lead the American League
East by 12 1/2 games.
5/14/2003, Tex03-Bos03, Fenway Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Rangers 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 9 1 3 1 2003 Red Sox 4 0 0 0 2 3 1 1 x 11 17 0 8 0 Rangers AB R H BI AVG Red Sox AB R H BI AVG Everett,C rf 4 1 1 0 .289 Damon cf 4 1 2 0 .296 Teixeira lf 4 1 1 2 .250 Walker,T dh 4 2 1 1 .333 Rodriguez,A ss 4 1 1 0 .325 Garciaparra ss 5 3 4 6 .352 Gonzalez,Ju dh 4 1 2 2 .265 Ramirez,M lf 4 2 3 2 .393 Perry 1b 4 1 2 1 .375 Ortiz,D 1b 5 0 1 0 .313 Blalock 3b 4 0 1 0 .424 Hillenbrand 3b 5 1 2 0 .326 Christenson cf 3 0 0 0 .165 Nixon rf 4 1 1 0 .360 Sierra ph 1 0 0 0 .330 Mueller 2b 4 0 1 1 .348 Diaz,E c 3 0 0 0 .320 Mirabelli c 4 1 2 1 .362 Sadler,D ph 1 1 1 1 .500 39 11 17 11 Young,M 2b 4 0 0 0 .286 36 6 9 6 Rangers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Benoit L 0-2 4.1 7 6 6 4 5 97 57 9.22 Van Poppel 1.0 3 2 2 0 1 24 15 10.80 Dickey 2.2 7 3 3 0 2 46 29 5.66 8.0 17 11 11 4 8 167 101 Red Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Fossum W 5-1 5.0 6 3 3 0 7 80 58 4.54 Person H 1 2.0 0 0 0 0 3 23 18 0.00 Chen,B 2.0 3 3 3 0 4 39 26 13.17 9.0 9 6 6 0 14 142 102 Tex: Sierra batted for Christenson in the 9th Sadler,D batted for Diaz,E in the 9th E-Benoit. 2B-Gonzalez,Ju(9), Damon(10), Garciaparra(15), Ramirez,M(13), Ortiz,D(6), Mueller(7), Mirabelli 2(7). 3B-Walker,T(2). HR-Teixeira(8), Gonzalez,Ju(8), Perry(2), Sadler,D(1), Garciaparra 3(10), Ramirez,M 2(12). RBI-Teixeira 2(20), Gonzalez,Ju 2(29), Perry(3), Sadler,D(1), Walker,T(16), Garciaparra 6(43), Ramirez,M 2(36), Mueller(16), Mirabelli(11). CS-Damon. K-Everett,C, Teixeira, Rodriguez,A 2, Gonzalez,Ju, Perry, Blalock, Christenson 3, Diaz,E, Young,M 2, Sierra, Damon, Walker,T, Ramirez,M, Ortiz,D, Hillenbrand, Nixon, Mueller, Mirabelli. BB-Damon, Walker,T, Ramirez,M, Nixon. WP-Benoit. GWRBI: Garciaparra Temperature: 67, Sky: clear, Wind: out to right at 3 MPH. Attendance: 33,921 Game Time: 3:02