Red Sox 9, Rangers 10
Nelson Cruz hit a walk-off solo homer into the 11th inning to lead the Texas Rangers to a 10-9 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
Cruz homered on the first pitch he saw from Red Sox reliever Tim Wakefield (3-9), capping the Rangers’ rally from a six-run deficit. The teams combined for 30 hits in the game, including nine home runs.
Boston trailed 2-1 before putting up seven runs in the fourth inning to take an 8-2 lead. David Ortiz led off the big inning by driving the first pitch he saw from Rangers starter Tommy Hunter over the fence in left-center field. Adrian Beltre and J.D. Drew followed followed suit with back-to-back homers.
The Rangers stayed within striking distance, scoring two runs in the fourth and fifth. David Murphy had a two-run home run in the fourth, and Michael Young and Josh Hamilton had back-to-back shots in the fifth.
Drew added his second home run, a solo blast in the seventh.
The Rangers answered with two runs in the bottom half to pull within one. Murphy had a sacrifice fly and Bengie Molina came through with a run-scoring double.
Texas tied the game at 9-9 in the eighth, as Vladimir Guerrero beat out an infield single and Hamilton scored from second base.
Rangers reliever Darren O’Day (4-2) earned the victory.