Cardinals - 000 002 001 000 0 - 3 16 0Kevin Youkilis's second home run of the afternoon gave the Red Sox an extra-inning victory. His first dong put Boston on the board in the seventh.
Red Sox - 000 000 120 000 2 - 5 13 0
Craig Hansen was superb in relief, coming in with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the eleventh and fanning Ryan Ludwick on three pitches. Hansen retired all five batters he faced.
Lester (7-9-1-1-3, 101) looked great yet again, except for a shaky sixth in which he allowed back-to-back doubles to start the frame and a one-out RBI single.
Jonathan Papelbon was one out away from nailing down a 3-2 save when he walked pinch-hitter Chris Duncan on four pitches and surrendered a game-tying double on an 0-2 pitch to another pinch-hitter, Adam Kennedy.
Dustin Pedroia collected two singles and two doubles.
Tampa lost to Houston 3-2, so the East lead is back to 1.5.
***
Joel Pineiro (4.02, 104 ERA+) / Jon Lester (3.18, 137 ERA+)
My vote for the most exciting game of the year thus far. Twists and turns, bad luck (Pineiro catching two shots in one inning; Drew's potential winning run scoring single getting deflected by the pitcher and turning into an out at third); good breaks (Crisp's triple when Ankiel fell); clutch performances (TEK! Hansen... Youk). Spills and chills galore: what a game!
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