Boston, MA – Mike Carp homered during a 3-for-4 performance which included three RBI and as many runs scored, as the Boston Red set a season high for offense with a 17-5 demolition of the Texas Rangers in the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park.
"These things happen over 162 games. Sometimes you're going to have the chance to score a ton of runs and you don't stop," Carp admitted. "We were able to keep it going all night."
Jackie Bradley, Jr. homered and knocked in three runs, while David Ortiz added a pair of hits and also drove in three for the Red Sox, who were coming off a series win in the Bronx and have won eight of their last 11 overall.
Daniel Nava ended up with three hits, scored four times and added an RBI, Stephen Drew went deep among his four hits and knocked in a pair, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia contributed a home run, three hits and two runs driven in.
Ryan Dempster (3-6) did well enough to win, allowing five hits and three runs with six strikeouts over seven innings.
"I like my chances with 17 runs," Dempster quipped. "When you get that much breathing room, you fill up the zone a little more to try and get some quick outs."
Jeff Baker and Mitch Moreland each hit two-run homers for the Rangers, who stumbled to their fifth loss in the last eight, while A.J. Pierzynski hit safely three times.
Justin Grimm (5-4) departed after recording only five outs, charged with seven hits and eight runs while walking three.
Up 2-0 after one inning, Boston piled on six runs in the home second to break the game open, beginning with Bradley's two-run shot that came after Jose Iglesias reached with a leadoff double. Carp walked and scored on an Ortiz triple two batters later, and Ortiz then scored on a Mike Napoli fly to left. When Saltalamacchia followed with a double, Grimm was replaced by Michael Kirkman, who served up an RBI double from Drew before Iglesias fanned to end the rally.
"I had no command whatsoever with my fastball. I was working behind hitters and leaving the ball up whenever it came across the plate," Grimm said. "Against a tough lineup like theirs, you just can't do it, can't keep working from behind.
In the third, Nava doubled with one out and came in when Carp followed with a base hit for a 9-0 lead.
Baker's two-out homer around the Pesky Pole in the fourth put the Rangers on the board, countered by Drew's homer into the bullpen for a 10-2 game in the home half and Carp's drive to right in the bottom of the fifth that made it a nine-run spread.
Texas' Nelson Cruz went deep to start the sixth, but Saltalamacchia followed suit in the home portion before his teammates tacked on three more in the frame on a Bradley groundout, Cruz error on a Nava fly ball and a Carp sacrifice fly.
Iglesias singled home two more in the home seventh which stretched the Sox' edge to 17-3. Moreland hit a two-run homer in the eighth, but Texas couldn't close its gap further despite having the bases loaded and two down.
The Red Sox picked up two runs in their first turn at the plate after an Ortiz double with runners on the corners scored Nava and a Saltalamacchia grounder to first brought in Carp.
Game Notes
Boston's previous season best for runs was in a 13-0 win at Toronto on April 7 ... Dempster's last win came on May 2 against the Blue Jays ... Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury sat for a fourth straight game with tightness in his groin ... Texas could have set a franchise record for its best mark 57 games into any season at 36-21, but with the loss tied the previous record of 35-22 achieved in 1996, '98 and '99 ... Rangers outfielder David Murphy pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth -- the lone Texas hurler not to give up a run -- and allowed one hit while striking out a batter.
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