The Red Sox reclaimed the lead against southpaw Jeremy Sowers in the bottom of the sixth as the first 12 batters all reached base and scored, setting an American League record.
Lugo started the rally with a single and Pedroia walked. Jason Bay lashed a double into the gap in left-center, chasing home Lugo with the run that tied the game at 2-2. After Mike Lowell was walked intentionally to load the bases, Rocco Baldelli -- just off the disabled list -- lined a single into right-center that scored Pedroia and Bay and put the Red Sox back in front 4-2.
J.D. Drew walked, the sixth straight batter to reach base in the inning, reloading the bases. Cleveland manager Eric Wedge then went to his bullpen for righthander Masa Kobayashi. Jeff Bailey whacked the reliever's first pitch into the left-field corner for another double, upping the Sox lead to 6-2.
When Kobayashi forgot to cover first base on Nick Green's groundball to second, a ball first baseman Ryan Garko dived for and took himself out of the play, and Green won the footrace with second baseman Valbuena to the bag for an infield hit, again reloading the bases. George Kottaras lined a single into center for two more runs as the Red Sox had batted around against the worst pitching staff in the league.
Lugo made it 10 straight batters to reach base by beating out a slow chopper up the third-base line, and the bases were loaded for the fourth time in the inning. Pedroia lined a single into left-center for another two runs, finishing Kobayashi and increasing the Red Sox' lead to 10-2.
Matt Herges, the Indians' third pitcher of the inning, fared no better. The first batter he faced, Bay, blasted his eighth homer into the Sox bullpen, a three-run shot that made it 13-2. After 12 consecutive batters had reached base to start the inning, Lowell finally made the first out by grounding to short. Herges retired the next to batters as well.
The first 12 batters scoring set an AL record, breaking the old mark of 11 set by the Detroit Tigers against the New York Yankees on June 17, 1925, in the sixth inning. The Sox tied the modern major-league record set by the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Philadelphia Phillies in the eighth inning on May 24, 1953.