Times wires
Sunday, May 1, 2011
BOSTON — The Red Sox ripped a page off the calendar and talked about putting a brutal April behind them.
No one wanted to forget the opening month more than Carl Crawford.
The former Ray singled to score Jed Lowrie from third and break a ninth-inning tie Sunday, giving Boston a 3-2 victory over the Mariners. It was his second RBI at Fenway Park this season, his first in Boston.
"After seeing it go through the middle, it was like a big weight off my shoulder," said Crawford, who entered the game hitting .155. "It's been a while since I felt this good. It's been tough on me; I can't sit here and act like it hasn't been. But you try to minimize that and keep positive thoughts in your head."
It was 2-2 with one out in the ninth when Lowrie lifted a fly to right that Ichiro Suzuki lost in the sun, getting hit in the hip as he ducked.
Lowrie went into third standing. Marco Scutaro grounded out to a drawn-in infield before Crawford lined a 1-and-1 pitch to center.
"Everybody's been doing a good job of trying to get me going," Crawford said. "The guys have my back."