Young breaks tie in 13th, Red Sox rally past Cardinals 5-4

ST. LOUIS -- Chris Young waited a long time for his opportunity Wednesday night and made the most of it.

Young drove in the tiebreaking run with a pinch-hit single in the 13th inning, and the Boston Red Sox rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 to sweep their two-game interleague series.

"In that situation, you get a runner in scoring position and you're just trying to find a way to put the bat on the ball," Young said. "We battled and our bullpen did an amazing job to give us the opportunity to win the ballgame and we're grateful for that."

Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a two-run homer in the seventh off starter Mike Leake to begin Boston's comeback from a four-run deficit. The Red Sox tied it in the eighth against reliever Trevor Rosenthal when Xander Bogaerts hit an RBI triple and scored on Andrew Benintendi's sacrifice fly.

Mitch Moreland doubled with two outs in the 13th and Bradley was intentionally walked before Young singled to left-center off Sam Tuivailala (2-1).

"This win felt big, the way we had to get it," Young said. "It was just one of those we had to persevere and we fought for."

Fernando Abad (1-0) tossed two scoreless innings for the win, and Ben Taylor got three outs for his first major league save.

"This one tonight was a lot of grit, a lot of character, a lot of competitive at-bats late in the game," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Jackie with the big two-run homer that kind of got us off nothing because Leake was very good. This was big for us, particularly tonight. This is a big win. It's a huge shift. I think anytime you get this deep into an extra-inning game when you're depleting your bullpen, to come away with a win, they feel like two at times."

Dexter Fowler hit a leadoff homer for the Cardinals, who had won eight of 10. It was his fifth home run this season and the 22nd leadoff shot of his career.

Boston improved to 3-17 when trailing after seven innings, while St. Louis fell to 19-1 when leading after seven.

The Cardinals had 12 hits but did not muster one in the final five innings.

"Not a lot of opportunities," manager Mike Matheny said. "They came in throwing the ball well out of the bullpen and we just couldn't put hits on top of each other."

St. Louis scored three times in the second. Rookie outfielder Magneuris Sierra had an RBI single, extending his hitting streak to seven games. Kolten Wong followed with an RBI double, and Tommy Pham's run-scoring groundout made it 4-0.

Bradley cut it to 4-2 with a drive to center field, his second homer in two games and fourth this year.

Leake allowed two runs and seven hits over seven innings, striking out five without a walk.

Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello, who lost five of his previous six starts, gave up four runs and nine hits in six innings with six strikeouts and three walks.

1967 CARDS HONORED

The Cardinals celebrated the 50th anniversary of their 1967 championship season with a pregame ceremony. Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Orlando Cepeda, Steve Carlton, Tim McCarver and Mike Shannon were among the members of that team, which beat Boston in the World Series.

COLD STRETCH

Benintendi went 0 for 5 with an RBI and is hitless in his last 26 at-bats.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Red Sox: LHP Drew Pomeranz, who left his start Sunday because of tightness in his left triceps, threw a bullpen and is expected to pitch Saturday. ... 3B Pablo Sandoval (knee sprain) is expected to begin a rehab assignment Friday. ... LHP David Price (left elbow strain) will make a rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday.

Cardinals: INF Jhonny Peralta (upper respiratory) and RF Stephen Piscotty (right hamstring) could both be activated from the disabled list this weekend. ... LHP Tyler Lyons (right intercostal strain) is expected to make one more rehab start in the minors.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: RHP Hector Velazquez will make his major league debut Thursday night in Oakland to open a four-game series. He has allowed two earned runs over 24 1/3 innings in his last four starts for Triple-A Pawtucket.

Cardinals: After an off day, RHP Michael Wacha (2-1, 3.19 ERA) opens a three-game series Friday against visiting San Francisco. He is 2-0 with a 2.92 ERA in four home starts this season.

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