Ellsbury steals five bases in Red Sox win

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Phillies gave Boston center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury a base after the Red Sox beat the Phils 9-2 Thursday night.

Before that, he took whatever he pleased.

Ellsbury reached base five times and stole a team-record five bases in the game, as Boston earned a split of the four-game home-and-home series with the Phillies.

Ellsbury, who went 3-for-4, also walked and was hit by a pitch. He leads the majors with 21 steals in 23 attempts.

For all of that, Ellsbury scored just one run, after singling to lead off the top of the first. The Red Sox notched four runs that inning off Philadelphia starter Jonathan Pettibone (3-1).

Jarrod Saltalamacchia drove in three runs with a pair of doubles, and Jonny Gomes and David Ortiz homered for Boston.

"You get on that many times, you just want to put pressure on the defense and score as many times as possible," Ellsbury said.

Boston manager John Farrell described Ellsbury as a "dynamic leadoff hitter." He became the first major leaguer to steal five bases in a game since Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford did so against the Red Sox on May 3, 2009. He also became the first player to swipe five bags against the Phillies in the modern era (since 1900).

"Tonight," Farrell said, "he singlehandedly changed the game."

According to Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, "Ellsbury was getting a walking lead, and we've got to stop that."

Boston banged out 14 hits in support of left-hander Franklin Morales (1-0), who earned a victory in his season debut.

Morales, who had been on the disabled list with a bulging disk in his back and a strained pectoral muscle, pitched five innings and allowed four hits and two runs -- both on Delmon Young's first-inning homer. Morales struck out two and walked two.

Craig Breslow and Clayton Mortensen combined for two innings of scoreless relief. Junichi Tazawa blanked the Phillies in the eighth, and Andrew Bailey did likewise in the ninth.

Pettibone, who worked five innings, did not allow another run after the first. He yielded six hits while striking out five and walking four.

The Red Sox expanded a 4-2 lead against Pettibone's successor, Jeremy Horst, on solo homers by Gomes in the sixth and Ortiz in the seventh.

Gomes' homer was his third of the season and second as a pinch hitter. He also homered in that role on April 30 against Toronto, and he has five pinch-hit homers in his career.

Ortiz, normally the designated hitter, started at first base for the first time this season and stroked his ninth homer, a majestic blast into the right field seats.

The runs were the first allowed by Horst in his last 11 appearances.

After Gomes' homer, Horst struck Ellsbury in the back with a pitch. Ellsbury, who said that "lit the fire a little bit," then stole second and third.

"He responded to the hit-by-pitch the way you should," Farrell said. "He responded in a good way."

Umpire Bill Miller warned both teams against retaliation, though Mortensen did hit Phillies catcher Erik Kratz with a pitch in the bottom of the seventh.

Boston added three runs in the ninth, on Stephen Drew's groundout and back-to-back RBI doubles by Saltalamacchia and Jose Iglesias.

The Red Sox scored four times in the top of the first on Dustin Pedroia's infield bouncer, an RBI single by Mike Carp and Saltalamacchia's two-run double.

The Phillies answered with Young's two-run blast in the bottom of the first. It was his fourth homer of the season, and his third in his last nine games. He had just one in his first 17.

Philadelphia did not score again. Farrell said Morales "kept the game under control."

The Phillies did load the bases against him with one out in the fourth, but shortstop Drew started an inning-ending double play on a slow roller off the bat of Kratz.

"The game was sitting there for us in the fourth inning," Manuel said, "and we couldn't do anything to take it."

NOTES: Phillies 1B Ryan Howard did not play, in part because of lingering problems with his left knee, in part because he was 0-for-4 in his career against Morales. Kevin Frandsen started in Howard's place and went 1-for-3 with a walk. ... Red Sox RHP Clay Buchholz threw off a mound for the second straight day on Wednesday and told reporters the soreness in the AC joint near his right shoulder has subsided to the point that the Red Sox are hopeful he can start Sunday against the Yankees in New York. Buchholz is 7-0 with a 1.73 ERA this season. ... Phillies 2B Cesar Hernandez made his first major league start. He collected his first hit, a single in the first inning, and scored his first run on Young's homer. He finished the night 2-for-4.