Crawford steals record six bases as Rays beat Red Sox

Tampa Bay Rays' Carl Crawford (C) celebrates the Rays win over the Boston Red Sox with Willy Aybar following their American League baseball game in St. Petersburg, Florida, May 3, 2009.

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) - Carl Crawford stole six bases to tie a modern day Major League record and help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 5-3 in a rematch of the 2008 American League Championship Series on Sunday.

Crawford was also perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 and driving in a run as the AL champion Rays defeated the Red Sox for the third time in four games.

James Shields (3-2) held the Sox to two runs and six hits over seven-plus innings for the victory. He struck out six and walked two.

Tampa Bay broke open a 1-1 game with two runs in the fourth inning on Jason Bartlett's run-scoring single and a fielder's choice by Michel Hernandez.

Crawford made it 4-1 when Red Sox pitcher Manny Delcarmen hit Pat Burrell with the bases loaded to force in a run.

Boston cut the lead to 4-3 on Kevin Youkilis's two-run homer in the eighth but Crawford's RBI single gave Tampa Bay another run in the bottom of the inning.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina, Editing by Ed Osmond)