Lowell slugs Sox past Yanks

Baseball Betting Lines

07/04/2008 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Lowell's three-run homer in the fifth inning broke up a tie game, and the Boston Red Sox held on for a 6-4 win in a rain-soaked Independence Day matchup with the New York Yankees.

Lowell added a sacrifice fly for the Red Sox, who have rebounded from a five- game losing skid and a three-game sweep in Tampa to take the first two of this four-game set.

Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-for-5 and scored for Boston, which pounded out 12 hits to the Yankees' six. Josh Beckett (8-5) allowed three runs -- all in the first inning -- on four hits and four strikeouts and two walks to get the win.

Darrell Rasner (4-7) continued to struggle for the Yankees. Staked to an early 3-0 lead, Rasner was ripped for six runs on 10 hits in five innings to lose for the seventh time in eight starts.

Alex Rodriguez had a two-run double for the Yankees, who fell for the fifth time in six games. New York lost left fielder Johnny Damon in the third inning to a left shoulder contusion, suffered on a bizarre play that almost resulted in a home run for Boston's Kevin Youkilis.

Trailing 3-0, Boston loaded the bases with one out in the third for Lowell, who lined a sacrifice fly to left for the first Red Sox run. Youkilis followed with a drive to deep left that bounced out of the webbing of Damon's glove, who fell into the fence after trying to make the catch.

The ball bounced onto the top of the fence, where it stood still for moment before dropping back onto the field. Youkilis, who just missed a home run by inches, pulled into third with a two-run triple. Damon left clutching his left side, and was replaced in left by Brett Gardner.

"I wish I could have kept the ball in my glove because the game was a two-run difference," Damon said. "I had the ball, and the minute my shoulder hit the wall, the ball started coming out. It would have been a nice play."

Damon is listed as day-to-day, but both he and Yankees manager Joe Girardi said after the game he will not be in Saturday's lineup.

Dustin Pedroia and Manny Ramirez singled in the fifth, and with one out Lowell turned on an inside fastball from Rasner and belted it into the seats in left, his 13th homer of the season. The three-run shot boosted the Red Sox to a 6-3 lead.

"The home run was a pitch in," Lowell said. "I kept my hands inside. I didn't really crush, but I looked at the left fielder and it felt good when I saw him turn his back and it fell in there."

The skies opened in the seventh, and the Yankees loaded the bases with one out under a steady downpour. Bobby Abreu popped out in the infield, though, Rodriguez grounded into a fielder's choice, and New York came away empty- handed.

The showers strengthened in the top of the eighth, and play was stopped for an hour and 28 minutes until the weather broke. The Yankees mounted one last charge, against Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth. Gardner worked a two-out walk, and moved to second on defensive indifference.

Derek Jeter hit a line drive to shallow center that Coco Crisp made a nice diving catch on for the third out. Unfortunately for Crisp and the Red Sox, third base umpire Wally Bell ruled a trap on the play, and Gardner scored while Jeter headed to second.

Abreu followed with a fly ball to deep center, but it held up in front of the warning track for Crisp, who squeezed it for the final out, and Papelbon's 25th save.

After Rasner escaped unscathed from a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the first, the Yankees roughed up Beckett for three runs in the home half. Damon led off with a double to center, Abreu worked a one-out walk, and Rodriguez lined an 0-2 fastball into the corner in left for a two-run double.

Rodriguez headed to third on the throw to the plate, and Jason Giambi drove him in with a sacrifice fly to center for a 3-0 Yankees lead.

Game Notes

Prior to the game the Yankees recalled pitcher Billy Traber from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and optioned infielder Alberto Gonzalez to their affiliate...Yankees owner George Steinbrenner turned 78 on Friday...Beckett had a first-inning earned run average of 1.20 prior to Friday...It was the 25th anniversary of Dave Righetti's no-hitter, a 4-0 Yankees win, on July 4, 1983 against the Red Sox.