The Tampa Bay Rays' Carl Crawford slides in safely ahead of a tag by Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia in the eighth inning. It was Crawford's sixth stolen base of the game Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Rays won 5-3.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Carl Crawford slid into second base, tying a modern major league record with six stolen bases in a game.
The crowd of 32,332 roared, and the Tampa Bay Rays immediately flashed a message on the scoreboard acknowledging the feat.
Everybody in the building seemed to know what was going on.
That is, except Crawford, who was aware of how many steals he had but had no clue that just three other players had accomplished the stat since 1900.
“I found that out late. I wish I had known during the game,” said Crawford, who got No. 6 in the eighth inning of the Rays’ 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
“I probably would have broken it if I knew. I’d have definitely tried,” he added. “I didn’t even try. I don’t know if that will ever happen again.”
Crawford was 4 for 4 with an RBI and joined Eddie Collins, Otis Nixon, and Eric Young as the only players to steal six bases in a game. Collins did it twice in 1912, while Nixon and Young did it in 1991 and 1996, respectively.
“We don’t really talk stats during the game. Everybody’s focused on the game, so nobody said nothing,” Crawford said.
What about the message on the large video screen and the loud ovation from the crowd?
“Oh, that’s what they were cheering about,” Crawford said. “I thought they were just cheering. I didn’t look. I was paying attention to the game.”
James Shields shrugged off a shaky start to pitch into the eighth inning, and Tampa Bay won three of four, outscoring the Red Sox 30-15 to improve to 5-2 against their AL East rivals this season.
Tigers 3, Indians 1: At Detroit, Justin Verlander struck out 11 and Curtis Granderson delivered another go-ahead hit as the Tigers beat the Indians.
Blue Jays 4, Orioles 3: At Toronto, Vernon Wells hit a two-run homer, Alex Rios added a solo shot and the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of Baltimore.
Royals 7, Twins 5: At Minneapolis, Jose Guillen homered and drove in four runs, rallying the Royals past Minnesota after Twins starter Scott Baker carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning.
Mariners 8, Athletics 7, 15 innings: At Seattle, Jose Lopez blooped an RBI single in the 15th inning and the Mariners, after pulling off a pair of late rallies, beat Oakland in the longest game in the majors this season.
Rangers 5, White Sox 1: At Arlington, Texas, Canyon del Oro High grad Ian Kinsler hit a leadoff home run and Matt Harrison pitched five scoreless innings.
Angels at Yankees: At New York, the game was called due to rain. No makeup date has been set.
Dodgers improve to 10-0 at home
LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers have been in business since 1890, and they never won their first 10 home games – until now.
Chad Billingsley completed seven innings for the third straight start, Orlando Hudson drove in three runs with a pair of doubles and Los Angeles set a club record Sunday with a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Reds 5, Pirates 0: At Pittsburgh, Johnny Cueto limited the Pirates to four singles while striking out nine during eight dominating innings, and Ramon Hernandez drove in three runs .
Astros 7, Braves 5: At Atlanta, Michael Bourn had three hits, including a seventh-inning single to drive in the go-ahead run, as the Astros beat the Braves and won a series in Atlanta for the first time in five years.
Cubs 6, Marlins 4: At Chicago, Derrek Lee hit a grand slam shortly after Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano hurt himself beating out a bunt single, and Chicago beat the Marlins.
Giants 1, Rockies 0: At San Francisco, Rich Aurilia drove in Steve Holm with a 10th-inning single to end a pitching-dominated afternoon as the Giants beat the Rockies.
Cardinals at Nationals: At Washington, the game was called due to rain. A makeup date is pending.
Mets at Phillies: At Philadelphia, the game was called due to rain. No makeup date was set.