Early on, quite a blast

Hitters had a ball trading homers

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Scott Kazmir, to go with the case of whiplash all the balls flying over his head caused, might have endured a case of déjà vu. Last month, when the Red Sox last thrashed their way through one of his starts, he allowed four home runs at Tropicana Field, and the Sox hit six total.

There were two differences last night. First, the Rays won the game and bailed out Kazmir. Second, and related, the Rays produced their own share of homers, as the long balls soared out of the yard at a historic rate.

The Sox and Rays last night combined for seven home runs, tying a playoff record. The Sox at one point hit three home runs - by Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and Jason Bay - in four at-bats.

Pedroia slammed two of the seven dingers, breaking himself out of the slump everyone knew he was in but himself. Pedroia entered last night 2 for 20 in the playoffs, a potential MVP who, between bad luck and bad swings, had withered in the postseason. The American League's second-best hitter couldn't get on base. Pedroia, though, never changed his approach. He never even considered it.

"I'm always in a rhythm," Pedroia said.

Pedroia had never hit two home runs in a game before last night. His first home run came in the third inning, a blast that a fan standing in the first row of the left-field seats snagged with his glove, then threw back toward the infield.

Two innings later, Pedroia gave the guy another chance at a souvenir. Facing Kazmir again, Pedroia rocked a similar pitch into almost the same spot, a little farther into the stands, a little closer to the foul pole. He circled the bases with his chest puffed, as if to ask, why would I ever worry?

"That's the name of the game for him," said Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan. "Confidence is a huge thing for any successful hitter. He's got to know, it doesn't matter if he's 0 for 20 or 10 for 20. He's got to believe when he gets in the box he's going to have a good at-bat and sooner or later it's going to come around."

Pedroia led a charge backed by Youkilis and Bay. At one point, the trio was 9 for 12 with four home runs and all seven Sox RBIs. Youkilis's home run came two batters after Pedroia hit his second. Youkilis knocked Kazmir out with a blast to left. Bay greeted Grant Balfour with another homer to left.

The Rays and Red Sox had tied the postseason homer record, and the game wasn't even halfway finished.

"To our credit, we took advantage of some pitches [Kazmir] gave us to hit," Magadan said. "We go with an attitude against him where we're going to be patient. If he leaves something in the middle of the plate, we're going to be aggressive on it. We took some great swings."

Pedroia proved his ability as a contact hitter had come back, too. In the eighth, facing Chad Bradford, Pedroia poked a slider to the opposite field. It was his third hit in four at-bats; he had only two in his previous 20. Those numbers meant nothing to him.

Once on base, he scooted to third and scored the tying run on Dan Wheeler's wild pitch. He saw the ball hit the backstop, and he bolted for home.

"I ran as fast I could," Pedroia said.

Everyone else, it seemed, had simply trotted across the plate.