Double-barreled blasts

Once is not enough for Youkilis or Ortiz

Trying to make an accounting of the chaos of the Red Sox' 10-run first inning last night, the team's crack researchers made sure to note that Kevin Youkilis struck out twice, "tying a major league record done by many previously."

Youkilis could explain.

He got a few extra at-bats, and he was trying to use them wisely.

"I think one of the strikeouts was a good pitch and the other one was, I think, it was a thing about trying to get the game to speed up, but that really didn't work," said Youkilis.

Almost four hours and 400 pitches later, the Sox and Rangers had combined for 36 runs to tie the American League record in Boston's 19-17 victory at Fenway Park. Obviously, the early strategy wasn't working.

"Somebody's got to take the end of [the game]," Youkilis said. "And I did."

If his fifth-inning home run of Joshua Rupe weren't enough to make up for tying the record held by many, his eighth-inning blast off Frank Francisco won the crowd over.

In a game full of emotional overdoses, Youkilis heard cheers and boos.

"The roller coaster ride in Boston's always fun," he said. "Luckily we got the cheers at the end. When you play here for a number of years, you just go out and play. You go out and play for your teammates, you go out and play for each other. That's what we do, and you want the emotions from your teammates."

David Ortiz, who also had two home runs - both in the first inning - sang Youkilis's praises.

"He's been huge for us this year," Ortiz told WRKO. "He's just getting better and better every day."

Ortiz could say the same about himself.

With his pair of three-run blasts, the slugger joined Nomar Garciaparra, Ellis Burks, and Bill Regan as the only Red Sox who have homered twice in an inning. He nearly added a third homer in the fifth, but his blast to center field was ruled a double when a fan reached over to catch the ball.

"If we don't have the fan, maybe it would have gone over," Ortiz told WRKO, "but we need the fans."

Terry Francona put up a fight for his slugger.

"When I came back in the dugout, I had three guys say it was a home run and three guys say it wasn't," he said.

The most positive sign was seeing Ortiz's bat catch fire after hitting .167 since the start of the month.

"It was great," Youkilis said. "It's good to see him.

"I think a lot of it's confidence. He just has to get his confidence back. It's huge for him just having his confidence."

Ortiz told the radio station that last night's game could be a boost.

"We needed that kind of game," he said. "We've got two more months to decided where we're going to be and the end of the season."

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com