July 9, 2008 Red Sox sweep Twins with 18-5 win

BOSTON (AP) - Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run double as the Boston Red Sox followed an overturned triple-play call with seven runs in the seventh inning to beat the Minnesota Twins 18-5 on Wednesday and complete a three-game sweep.

Jacoby Ellsbury had a career-high four hits, and Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis and Sean Casey had three apiece to help Boston set season highs for hits (23) and runs.

Josh Beckett (9-5) allowed three runs in the first and followed it with four scoreless innings before being chased after two batters in the sixth. Livan Hernandez (9-6) allowed six runs and 11 hits in 4 1-3 innings, but he was long gone by the time the game turned silly in the seventh.

With runners on second and third and Boof Bonser pitching for Minnesota, Jason Varitek hit a sinking liner to center field. Denard Span slid for the ball, backhanding it as it one-hopped into his glove.

The base runners took off, but after the umpires belatedly signaled a catch, Span threw to second to double off Casey. Second baseman Alexi Casilla leisurely threw to third to get Mike Lowell, who had already crossed the plate.

While the umpires conferred, official scorer Mike Petraglia announced that the play was an 8-4-5 triple play, "for now."

The call was reversed - correctly, replays confirmed - and irate Twins manager Ron Gardenhire came out of the dugout for an argument that led to a quick ejection. Casey stayed at third and Varitek was credited with an RBI

Craig Breslow relieved Bonser and struck out Brandon Moss, but Julio Lugo walked to load the bases and Ellsbury singled to score another run. With Brian Bass pitching, Pedroia hit a double to left to clear the bases and extend his hitting streak to 17 games. Youkilis doubled and Ramirez followed with an RBI single to make it 14-5.

Kevin Cash hit a pinch-hit homer, Moss hit the first triple of his career and Youkilis homered in a four-run eighth to finish the scoring. The 18 runs were the most for the Red Sox since they scored 25 against Florida in 2003.

Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel homered for Minnesota.

Beckett allowed five earned runs and eight hits, giving him his first two-start winning streak since May 3-8. Notes: Youkilis committed an error on a pickoff attempt in the third inning, his first error since June 7 and his second as a first baseman since July 4, 2006. ... There were four World Series MVPs in the game: Hernandez (1997), Beckett (2003), Manny Ramirez (2004) and Mike Lowell (2007). ... Beckett retired Brian Buscher in the fourth on a looping fly to left-center when center fielder Ellsbury made the catch and slid through Ramirez's legs to avoid a collision. ... Gardenhire came out to argue fan interference on Ramirez's RBI double off the Green Monster in the fifth. He won the argument, but the umpires allowed Youkilis to score anyway. ... Both right fielders had trouble with the sun, allowing fly balls to drop.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)