Youkilis, Red Sox Win a Wild One

David Ortiz hit two three-run homers in the first inning to help the Boston Red Sox score 10 runs in the frame against the Texas Rangers last night.

Boston had seven hits and scored all the runs off Scott Feldman. Ortiz hit his 15th homer of the year after J.D. Drew walked to lead off and Dustin Pedroia followed with a single. Ortiz hit his 16th with two outs, after RBI singles by Drew and Pedroia.

The inning ended when Kevin Youkilis struck out for the second time.

Ortiz nearly homered again in the fifth after Texas had cut the lead to 12-10, but second base umpire Scott Barry ruled that a fan had reached over the center-field fence and touched the ball. Ortiz ended up with a double, but Youkilis hit his 21st homer on the next at bat to put Boston up 14-10.

The first inning was the fourth time in Red Sox history a player hit two homers in an inning. The last was Nomar Garciaparra in 2002.

The last time a player hit two home runs in the first inning was Aaron Boone of the Cincinnati Reds against the San Diego Padres on Aug. 9, 2002, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Both were two-run shots.

Bret Boone and Mike Cameron were the last American Leaguers to do it, and they did it in the same game, according to Elias. On May 2, 2002, the pair hit back-to-back homers twice in the first inning for the Seattle Mariners against the Chicago White Sox.

A player has hit two homers in an inning 54 times in major league history. Jim Edmonds of the Chicago Cubs was the 53rd, doing it on June 21 against the White Sox.

Ortiz, who bats third, had hit his last homer on July 27, four days before Boston traded cleanup hitter Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ortiz's two homers moved him into seventh place with 224 homers for the Red Sox, passing Jimmie Foxx, who hit 222, and Bobby Doerr, with 223. He now shares the AL record of six RBIs in one inning with 11 players. Raul Ibanez of Seattle was the last to do it before Ortiz on Aug. 4, against Minnesota.

The 10 runs were the most the Red Sox scored in an inning since June 27, 2003 when they had 14 in the first and beat Florida 25-8.

Ortiz grounded out to second in his third at bat. Feldman was replaced by Josh Rupe with two outs in the third and was charged with 12 runs, six of them earned.