Hamilton blasts in Texas romp over Red Sox
BOSTON — Josh Hamilton's name was mentioned in some
storied company Monday night at Fenway Park.
Hamilton' eighth-inning home run – one of six homers blasted by the Rangers in
an 18-3 rout of the Red Sox – drew comparisons to the storied 502-foot homer
hit by Ted Williams in 1946.
Hamilton’s blast, which extended his home run streak to three games, fell shy
of that mark as it was to travel 469 feet. Still, Hamilton's blast was the
story on a night in which the Rangers set a club record for biggest victory at
Fenway Park and pounded out 21 hits in running their road record to 4-0.
After the game, Texas players watched a replay in the clubhouse to see the
distance. Manager Ron Washington walked by and said “Fluke.” Maybe it was,
because on a night in which Hamilton went 3 for 5 with five RBI to raise his
average to .413, he still thinks he has work to do.
"I'm just finding holes man," Hamilton said. "Seriously. I don't
feel great but I'm finding holes. It's getting better but my timing I think I'm
still a little early. Right now I'm kind of getting way with some things which
I'm going to continue to improve on obviously to get better. Everybody was
feeling pretty good tonight."
Hamilton was right there.
Every Texas starter had at least one hit and in addition to Hamilton's homer,
Mike Napoli homered twice while Michael Young, Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz
also homered. The Texas hitters made the six Boston pitchers throw 218 pitches.
Texas sent 10 batters to the plate in a four-run second inning and 13 batted in
an eight-run eighth in which the Rangers clubbed three homers off reliever Mark
Melancon.
Lost in the offensive outburst was the fact the Rangers trailed 2-0 after one
inning. All that went away in the second as Texas worked Boston ace Jon Lester
(0-2), who matched his career low with two innings pitched. Napoli tied the
game with a two-run homer and Elvis Andrus and Hamilton added RBI, giving the
Rangers a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Lester allowed three more runs in the third without getting an out and the rout
was on after he needed 80 pitches to get six outs.
"It was one of those nights when we swung the bat well," Washington
said. "We played good defense. We ran the bases. We pitched. We did
everything we were supposed to do."
Washington isn't surprised by the kind of run Hamilton is on, either.
"He's a talented baseball player," he said. "Nothing he does out
there surprises me at any time because he's capable of doing it. It's not like
he's getting hot and that's going to happen. Josh is capable of doing
that."
Hamilton's night did include a little scare, though.
He was spiked in his left hand during a slide at second base in the big second
inning. Hamilton had a gash on his pinky finger and another on his middle
finger. He had the hand checked just to make sure. It certainly didn't slow him
down, as he added a single and his three-run homer in the eighth inning after
the injury.
The beneficiary of all the offense was Colby Lewis (2-0), though he did not so
much offensive overkill. After allowing two runs in the first on a Dustin
Pedroia homer, he settled down and pitched six more innings without allowing
another run.
Lewis has a 1.83 ERA in three starts — all of them quality outings. Tuesday
night’s effort on the mound was rewarded with a great seat for the offensive
onslaught.
"It was awesome," Lewis said. "You know what you have to do
especially when Lester is out there and he's scrambling and trying to get outs.
When he has a long inning, you definitely have to go out there and get that
quick inning and get him back out there to keep momentum. It was one of those
games where I felt I had decent stuff and was able to pound the strike zone,
especially with all the runs those guys gave me."
Lewis allowed four hits in the first but just four more over the next six
innings and struck out seven without walking a batter.