Boston, MA (Sports Network) - David Ortiz homered twice, doubled and drove in four runs, leading the Boston Red Sox to an 11-7 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and a sweep of the three-game series at Fenway Park.
Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis also homered for the Red Sox, who swept a doubleheader from the Brewers on Saturday after Friday's series opener was rained out. Boston had lost four in a row before the Brewers ventured into Fenway, and the sweep moved the Red Sox back into first place in the AL East.
The Red Sox rapped out 15 hits, including three each from Ortiz, Pedroia and Youkilis. Pedroia also scored three times and drove in a pair of runs, while Jacoby Ellsbury knocked in two.
Josh Beckett (5-3) was the beneficiary of the offensive onslaught and improved to 3-1 in his last four starts. He was tagged for five runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings of a loss at Baltimore five days ago and on Sunday picked up the victory despite allowing six runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and a walk in seven innings.
"The guys swung the bats well today," said Beckett. "I made some good pitches, made some poor pitches. At the end of the day, we won and that's what we're trying to do. I threw a lot of strikes and sometimes strikes get hit."
The Brewers clubbed four home runs off Beckett, including two by Ryan Braun. J.J. Hardy and Prince Fielder also connected for homers, but Milwaukee still lost its fifth straight overall and has dropped nine in a row on the road.
Milwaukee starter Carlos Villanueva (2-5), coming off a victory against the Dodgers five days ago, surrendered six runs -- five earned -- on five hits and three walks over four innings to absorb the loss.
"I'm really happy with the way we swung the bats today against one of the best pitchers in baseball, but we just didn't have enough pitching," said Milwaukee manager Ned Yost.
The Brewers gave Villanueva a quick 2-0 lead in the first when Mike Cameron doubled with one out and Braun followed with his 12th homer of the season, but the Red Sox countered with a run in the bottom of the inning as Pedroia walked with one out and scored on a double to the gap in left-center field by Ortiz.
Back-to-back two-out homers by Pedroia and Ortiz in the third put Boston on top, but the Brewers answered in the fourth with two outs when Corey Hart singled and Hardy followed with his second home run of the season for a 4-3 lead.
Boston loaded the bases on an error, a single and a walk to start the home fourth. Coco Crisp struck out, but Julio Lugo drew a walk to force in the tying run and Ellsbury stroked a single into right-center to score a pair for a 6-4 edge.
Pedroia and Ortiz were at it again in the fifth, this time against Mark DiFelice. Pedroia led off with a single and Ortiz connected for his second homer of the contest to make it 8-4.
Braun and Fielder belted back-to-back homers in the sixth to pull the Brewers within two, but Pedroia singled home a run in the bottom of the inning and the Red Sox tacked on two more in the seventh when Youkilis followed a Mike Lowell single with his ninth homer.
Braun knocked in his fourth run of the game in the eighth with a groundout to account for the final margin.
(Sports Network) - Philadelphia tries to go three up on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series this evening as the best-... Full Story...
What Is The Score | WhatistheScore.com
Design by SEOSolutions.co.cr
All Rights Reserved ©2006-2007
WITS - WhatIsTheScore.com is a Sports Content Website offering Real Time Sports Information such as Live Score, Free Live Odds, Sports News, Sports Events, Stats, Standings, Sports Articles and more in all Major Sports around the World – WhatIsTheScore.com