Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four consecutive home runs:

June 8, 1961: Braves vs. Reds, 7th inning:

Milwaukee   002 000 510 -   8 13 2
Cincinnati  011 314 00x -  10 14 0

Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron off Jim Maloney; Joe Adcock and Frank Thomas off Marshall Bridges. After Thomas homered, Joe Torre grounded out to third.

July 31, 1963: Indians vs. Angels, 6th inning:

Los Angeles 100 000 400 -  5 11 2
Cleveland   005 004 00x -  9 13 1

Woodie Held, Pedro Ramos, Tito Francona, Larry Brown off Paul Foytack. All came with two outs. Ramos was the opposing pitcher.

May 2, 1964: Twins vs. Athletics, 11th inning:

Minnesota    002 000 001 04 -  7 11 0
Kansas City  000 000 201 00 -  3  8 0

Tony Oliva and Bob Allison off Dan Pfister; Jimmie Hall and Harmon Killebrew off Vern Handrahan.

September 18, 2006: Dodgers vs. Padres, 9th inning:

San Diego    400 000 023 1 -  10 15 0
Los Angeles  112 000 014 2 -  11 19 2

Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew off Jon Adkins; Russell Martin and Marlon Anderson off Trevor Hoffman. The last three came on consecutive pitches. After Anderson's HR, Julio Lugo flied out to left. Nomar Garciaparra won the game in the bottom of the 10th with a two-run homer off Rudy Seanez.

April 22, 2007: Red Sox vs. Yankees, 3rd inning:

New York  201 011 010 - 6  9 0 
Boston    004 000 30x - 7 11 0

Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek off Chase Wright.

***

The last time three consecutive Red Sox batters hit home runs was May 31, 1980 (Tony Perez, Carlton Fisk, Butch Hobson) against the Brewers. Boston lost that game 19-8.

Red Sox hitters have hit four home runs in an inning 10 times (last time was July 23, 2002 against Tampa Bay). Boston scored 10 runs in the 3rd inning enroute to a 22-4 win in the first game of a doubleheader. The Sox blew a 4-0 lead in the 9th inning of the nigthcap and lost 5-4. FU, Gump.

Mike Lowell:

I haven't been a part of anything like that, not even Little League. It was total disbelief in the dugout. Usually four straight hitters don't square up for base hits, let alone home runs. The dugout was going crazy.

Drew:

What are the odds, the chance of being part of this twice? I was the second guy in both of 'em. I told Coco after Lowell hit his that we were one away from Los Angeles, and it happened.

Pedroia:

Man, I couldn't believe it. Every time the ball was hit, it sounded really well [struck]. I was like 'Dang, is this really happening?' It was crazy, but it definitely boosted our team.

Matsuzaka:

I've neither seen nor heard of such a thing taking place. It was the most I could do to control my own excitement.

It was Lowell's 12th career multi-HR game:

I love this atmosphere. It gets a little overdone with the hype. I mean, this is April 22. But it's definitely a different atmosphere in the ballpark when these two teams go at it.

A scout at Fenway Park on Matsuzaka:

About 65 percent of his performance tonight was average and about 35 percent was above average. He made some really good pitches to Alex Rodriguez, but for the most part [it was] a pretty mixed performance. He struggled early, as he's been wont to do. But he does battle you.

In addition to his great catch in the 8th inning, Pedroia got two hits, raising his average from .158 to .190. He had been in a 1-for-28 slump.

Wily Mo Pena started in center because Coco Crisp had tightness in his left oblique. ... Robinson Cano's single off Hideki Okajima was the first hit Okajima had allowed in 23 AB. ... Jon Lester talks: Projo, Globe, Herald, redsox.com.

Last night was also Terry Francona's 48th birthday.

The Herald's Steve Buckley spoke with Paul Foytack, now 76, the only other pitcher to give up four consecutive homers:

I guess the only thing that would have been better would have been if he had given up five in a row, because then I'd be off the hook. Actually, I'm going to send that kid a note. I'm going to tell him to hang in there. It must be tough for him. I was at the end of my career when I did it. He's just starting out. ... If my memory is correct, Held hit his home run off the left-field foul pole, and Francona hit his off the right-field foul pole. And giving up a home run to Ramos, a pitcher, really hurt.

Foytack watched some of last night's game:

But I turned it off when I saw that guy with the baggy pants in left field. I don't know why they let guys dress like that. But, hey, it's none of my business.

Then he went outside, shook his fist at the sky and chased some kids off his lawn.