Turnabout Is Fair Play

The Red Sox returned the favor to the Texas Rangers from Friday night and put a whipping on them, 12-7, at Fenway on Saturday.

Erik Bedard pitched six solid innings for his first Red Sox win. He surrendered three runs in the first three innings, but settled down after that. After a night when the Sox had just two baserunners on Friday, they lit up the board for eight runs in the fourth inning, which included a Carl Crawford grand slam. It was the seventh time this season the Sox have scored at least eight in an inning.

Josh Reddick had four hits, Mike Aviles came off the bench to get two more (Jed Lowrie left with an injury), Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his 14th home run, and Dustin Pedroia cleared the bases with a double that just missed being the Sox' second grand salami of the game in the sixth.

John Lackey takes the hill tomorrow to conclude the nine-game homestand on Sunday. New York's win over Toronto keeps the Red Sox in second, a half-game back.