Boston's Youkilis hits homer in hometown Cincinnati

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Cincinnati native Kevin Youkilis hit a tie-breaking solo home run in the 10th inning to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 6-4 win over the Reds on Saturday.

A baseball standout at the University of Cincinnati, Youkilis was cheered on by some 150 friends and relatives. He singled, doubled and homered to help the American League East leading Red Sox even the weekend series.

Youkilis said it was a "great honor and great thrill" to hit the homer in Cincinnati.

"It was definitely a great home run, and just to be able to hit a Major League home run here in Cincinnati, something I've never done having never played here, it was definitely exciting," he told reporters after the interleague game.

"But other than a personal thing, it was great for this team to get back on track and get a win."

Boston manager Terry Francona was just happy to get the win on the road, where Boston is just 15-21.

"We needed to get some wins on the road," Francona said. "There's a lot of history here for this team and for Kevin but bottom line, we need the victories away from Boston."

Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon (3-2) blew his third save in 22 opportunities when Edwin Encarnacion homered in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.

Coco Crisp followed Youkilis in the 10th with another solo home run off losing pitcher Mike Lincoln (0-2). Craig Hansen pitched a scoreless 10th to pick up his first save for Boston.

(Writing by Roger Lajoie; Editing by Peter Rutherford)